A Wolf's Cry
by Dark Paine
Summary: Kagome's time has changed and since she cannot love InuYasha, she leaves to live in her time for good. New secrets are revealed and new adventures begin. InuyashaWolf's Rain crossover.
1. Leaving

A Wolf's Cry

Chapter One- Leaving

The birds chirped wildly as Kagome made her way through Inuyasha's forest. This must had been the millionth time she and Inuyasha had a fight that ended with her 'sitting' him, then leaving to go home. He was just so stubborn and hot headed whenever Kouga came around. Kagome had left after Kouga had come around the day before yesterday. He and Inuyasha had fought once again when Kouga claimed her as his mate, which made Inuyasha very angry.

They only had time to throw a few punches at each other before Kagome 'sat' Inuyasha. Kagome had then told Kouga to leave before Inuyasha could get up, but before Kouga left he gently grasped Kagome's hands in his own and kissed her forehead, telling her he would be back to get her from 'mutt face'. Letting go of her hands, Kouga raced off into the woods yelling a farewell. Kagome stood still like a statue, her eyes wide as saucers. Inuyasha laid face first in the dirt, growling angrily. When the spell lifted off of Inuyasha, he had jumped up and looked around furiously for Kouga. The next thing that happened was Kagome and Inuyasha getting into yet another fight and her leaving.

Kagome kept walking through the forest only stopping to sit down by the Goshinboku.

Instead of wearing her regular school uniform, she wore a black tank top with black shorts. Her hair had grown over the years and was now past her rear. Whenever the light hit it, it looked like she had blue streaks in it. Even though she was now eighteen, she had grown up almost, and she finally gained beautiful curves that she longed for. It seemed like forever for it to happen but when it did, she was ecstatic. All those years of traveling had helped too, keeping her well toned, healthy, and strong. Her miko powers also increased over the years also. She was now just as powerful, if not more, then Kikyo.

A smile found its way to her lips before she let out a sigh and looked down at the complete Shikon no Tama that hung around her neck. She picked it up and held it at eye level while rolling in between her fingers. It had been three years since they had defeated Naraku. It took everything that they had and more. The battle lasted for hours and hours. Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Sesshomaru, and Kouga were all there along with Kouga's pack. They all had helped out in defeating Naraku but it was still Kagome who had actually killed him.

She was hidden behind a rather large boulder, where she was told to stay by Inuyasha but she would not let him go out there by himself.

She notched three arrows at once and then used the rock to jump into the air. She aimed carefully, pulled back on the bow and let the arrows loose, directly hitting Naraku head on. One hit his head, another hit his chest, and the last hit his heart. Naraku let out a tremendous scream as the arrows glowed pink. His skin started to burn right off of his body. Throwing his head back in pain, Naraku let out one last scream that would ever leave his lips and disintegrated.

Kagome had landed safely onto the ground as her companions ran to her and embraced her in a large hug. Tears were running down all of their faces as Miroku, Sango and Shippo hugged Kagome tightly. Cheers ran through everyone's ears and the battlefield. They released each other and Miroku looked down at his hand that held the void and untied the rosary beads. They fell loosely to the ground, revealing to everyone that the void was finally gone, and that they had really killed to actual Naraku.

Sango happily embraced him and cried on his shoulder. Hugging Sango tightly, he let the tears run freely down his face. Pulling back to look at Sango's face, he kissed her passionately on his lips.

Kagome, meanwhile, walked with Inuyasha to where Naraku once stood, and picked up the many shards that lay there. Pulling the half Shikon no Tama from around her neck, Kagome held it in her hand, and rested it in her palm. She grabbed the shards that once belonged to Naraku and held them in her other hand.

Bringing her hands together, she let the shards fuse together to make an almost complete Shikon no Tama. Their were only about ten more shards left, Kagome estimated, before it would become whole once again and then she would give it to Inuyasha so he would make his wish on it. Surprisingly Inuyasha had embraced her that day, telling her how worried he was about her safety and yet he congratulated her for killing Naraku.

Since then Miroku and Sango had left and went on their own to have a family, bringing Kirara along with them. Only Inuyasha, Shippo and Kagome traveled to find the remainder of the Shikon no Tama. They went through many hardships and obstacles together but managed to survive.

With her being able to spend more time with school rather than rushing back and forth from her time to Inuyasha's, Kagome was able to graduate from High School, but also made it much longer to find the remaining shards. When they had finally completed it, everything seemed to slow down. Other than the demons that tried to steal the Shikon no Tama, life was alright for Kagome. She enjoyed the time she spent with Inuyasha and Shippo. It was just the three of them after all, until Shippo was old enough to start his own life. It was hard for Kagome to say good-bye to her adopted son, but always thought the best of him and let him go.

This had all taken place in the three years Kagome had been to the Sengoku Jidai.

Kagome also noticed how much the Sengoku Jidai had changed... as well as her time. Here, there was nothing to worry about but the regular demons that came around and some strong ones, and it was more peaceful here and the air was still clean. In her time, Tokyo had become run down, there were rarely any people who lived there and now it looked like a wasteland. Military men, who were assigned to protect the scientists that now worked there, had destroyed it whenever their were intruders in the city that tried to either steal or find out what they were experimenting on. Kagome had heard rumors about the scientists making a secret experiment that almost everyone never knew about or just didn't care. She couldn't decide whether or not to believe it or not, she only believed what she saw. Then there was that weird smell of flowers that had suddenly appeared. Where had they come from? And why did it seem that she was always drawn to it.

There was also an old man that claimed there were wolves in the city and he would shot humans, yelling that they were the wolves. How could that be? Humans aren't wolves and there have never been any wolves that liven in Tokyo for hundreds of years.

Kagome's family still lived there though. Souta was now older as was her mother but not a whole lot older. There wasn't anything different about Kagome's family other then Kagome's grandfather died a year ago. He died of old age, but it was a peaceful fast death without any pain, which Kagome thanked Kami-sama for.

Looking up into the sky Kagome stood up and began walking again. She would give Inuyasha the complete Shikon no Tama today and he would make his wish, and then stay with Kikyo.

It hurt Kagome inside that Inuyasha still loved Kikyo, but she would not interfere. She knew every time Inuyasha went to see Kikyo privately during the night. It was then that she realized she was no match for Kikyo and so accepted that she would never be with Inuyasha. As long as Inuyasha was happy, Kagome was, even if it meant that she would have to stop loving him. And so, after she gave him the jewel, she would go home to her own time for good, and she would never have to see Inuyasha again.

Finally making it to Kaede's village she saw Inuyasha in a nearby tree.

"Inuyasha please come down here," Kagome called up to him. Inuyasha's ears twitched in her direction before he leapt down from the tree, landing right in front of her.

"Feh, what took you so long wench?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Instead of 'sitting' him, Kagome smiled sadly and pulled the necklace with the Shikon no Tama from her neck and held it out to him.

"Here Inuyasha, make your wish, the Shikon no Tama is yours now."

Inuyasha looked at her, surprise evident on his face. "What?" he asked, confused.

She smiled and put it in his hand. "Its yours. Now you can make your wish."

Inuyasha couldn't believe it, he had the complete jewel right in his hand, but something didn't feel right.

"Are you sure Kagome? I mean-" He was cut off.

"Of course I'm sure Inuyasha. You earned it and now you can finally stay with Kikyo" Kagome answered softly as she grabbed the spell binding necklace, that was around his neck, gently off. She looked him in the eyes and stepped back.

"I'm never going to see you again Inuyasha, don't come after me." She dropped her gaze so she was looking at the ground. "Do me one favor though. If you see the others, tell them I love them and I'll never forget about them." A small tear ran down her face. "I'll miss you dearly Inuyasha, and I will never forget about you!"

Without looking at him she ran for the well, never seeing Inuyasha again.

Inuyasha stood still, the Shikon no Tama in his hands. He began to tremble as one lone tear fell from his face.

"Thank you Kagome..." he whispered as he ran to the forest in the opposite direction of the well.

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Hello everyone!!! Lol I decided to make a new story because it just popped into my head and I couldn't resist it! Anyway this is an Inuyasha and Wolf's Rain crossover! Please review! Reviews keep me going and it will get the next chapter out faster!


	2. Death

A Wolf's Cry

Chapter Two – Death

Kagome ran, not caring if any demon would come out and attack her. She kept running as fast as her legs would take her. She had done it and she silently knew in her heart that Inuyasha would not come after her this time, or anytime after this. She didn't care any more; all of her feelings for him had come to an abrupt halt. Inuyasha loved Kikyo more than anyone in this world and Kagome could never change that.

Slowing down to a jog, Kagome saw the Bone Eater's well in sight. Memories of her jumping down the well for the first time came back to her as she stopped in front of the well and looked down into it. She remembered hot Inuyasha would drag her back to his time every time he thought she was late.

Now, they were just memories and nothing more.

She wanted to forget what had happened here, but knew she wouldn't and silently wanted to keep the memories.

Shaking her head she looked up into the sky one last time as she let the cool afternoon breeze sweep around her before leaping into the well. The familiar blue light once again engulfed her, but for the last time.

She would miss the Sengoku Jidai; it was like a second home to her. But now it would be worth nothing more than its name to her. There was no reason to go back anyway, her destiny and fate had been decided and completed. Kagome didn't know what would happen to her. She completed her mission finding the shards and had given the Shikon Jewel to Inuyasha so he could make his wish to stay with Kikyo. She knew Inuyasha always wanted to stay with Kikyo, with him always visiting her during the nights when they were searching for the shards, so why was there a reason to stay?

The fact was so obvious: There was no reason.

Finally passing through the well, Kagome looked up to see the familiar roof of the well house. She was home where she belonged and here is where she would remain until death took her from this world.

Climbing up the latter and out of the well she walked up the few steps to the door of the well house and opened it. Stepping out into the sun she had to blink a few times before her eyes adjusted to how bright it was. A rush of wind blew by, picking up dirt. Kagome had to cover her eyes because of the burning sensation the dirt had caused when it went into her eyes.

When the wind stopped blowing, Kagome dusted the dirt off of herself before she began walking towards her home.

Kagome could tell something was wrong. There was no noise from Sota yelling at the video game when her lost or how her mother talked loudly to the few friends she had on the phone.

"Maybe I'm just imagining things." Kagome said to herself.

She walked up the Shrine's porch steps and approached the door. Her heartbeat seemed to quicken and her body began to twitch. 'What's wrong with me?' Kagome thought wildly to herself. Her hand instinctively reached out to the door and she grasped the doorknob. Shock and worry filled Kagome as the door glided open. The door had never been left open before, even if her mother and Sota were home or not, the door would always stay locked.

Kagome slowly walked inside and looked around. Everything was dead silent.

"Mom...Sota?" Kagome called out. There was no answer and Kagome began to sweat a little. She walked slowly into the kitchen and stopped in the middle of the tile room. Her eyes began to dart everywhere, scanning to see if anything was wrong.

She became paralyzed, her eyes rested on the white kitchen wall that was now imprinted with a bloodstain. Kagome's eyes widened as she walked over to the wall and examined it slowly. The mark was strange. Someone had grasped onto the wall and dragged their hand for a slip second the releasing it altogether. The handprint of blood was smeared and it looked fresh. But who's blood could it be? Kagome's fear began to rise.

She didn't want to know who's blood it was, all she wanted to think was that her family was safe and that Sota had used red finger paint and accidentally gripped the wall and smeared the paint once he realized what he was doing. She hoped that was it and nothing serious but Kagome silently knew that it wasn't finger paint in the shape of a handprint on her wall.

She watched as if mesmerized by the drops of blood slid down the wall. She stood still, wondering if she should continue walking to see what lay in the next room.

Finally building up the courage, Kagome began walking towards the living room. Everything around Kagome was quiet and soon seemed to slow down.

Kagome felt like she was going to scream and vomit at the same time but held back. The blood was everywhere on the walls, the chairs, the couch, and on the floor. It almost looked like a war had gone on in here. The coffee table was turned upside down. Glass from the broken window was shattered everywhere.

Words could not describe how Kagome felt. It was as if her heart and sole were being ripped out once again. In the middle of the room lay both her mother and brother lying on their stomachs, dead. Two bullet wounds were embedded in the back of Sota's head and seeping with blood. Her mother lay close by, her clothes ripped and shredded. On her back were scratch marks, blood pouring out of them and flooding onto the floor.

Kagome's eyes watered as the tears began to flow down her face.

"Mamma! Sota!" she screamed loudly as she ran over to them and kneeled next to both of their bodies. They weren't moving. 'Why? How could this happen?' was all on Kagome's mind at the moment as she began to shake her mother, falsely wishing she would wake up and everything would be fine.

There was still no movement and Kagome checked her pulse on her mothers' neck. There was no sign of a pulse...her mother was really dead. Kagome's body began to shiver as the sobs escaped her body. Kagome let her hand travel down her mothers' neck and rested it on her shoulder. She brought her hand to her face and found it covered in blood. Sobbing, Kagome pulled back on her mothers' shirt and found a large bite mark there.

She quickly pulled back her hand as if her hand was burned and slowly brought it down on her mothers face. She glided her hand over her mothers face and closed her panic stricken eyes shut softly. She bent down and kissed her mothers forehead and said a silent prayer and vowing to find whoever had killed her.

Kagome turned to her little brother. She also closed his frightened eyes full of emptiness shut lightly as to not disturb him and leaned down to kiss his forehead Kagome brushed the hair that covered her little brothers face out of the way before standing up and hugging herself as the full effect of what had happened hit her. She began to cry uncontrollably as she hugged herself.

What made her cry even more was that Sota's video game was still on. He must have been playing it when this happened.

Suddenly all of her sadness was taken over by anger and she fisted her hands at her side and looked at her mother and Sota. "I swear on my life mamma, Sota, I will kill whoever did this to you!" She bowed towards each of them and looked at them one last time.

That's when she heard the loud growling coming from behind her. Kagome quickly turned around to see a dog...or could it be a wolf? Her anger seemed to float away instantly, replaced with fear as she looked into the wolf's eyes. The wolf that now stood only a few feet away from her bore its fangs and was growling viciously. 'This must have been the animal that killed my mother!' Thought Kagome, Sending shivers down her spine, just imagining how her mother felt. Her attentions were distracted when she hear and old man's gruff voice coming from the hallway.

"What is it blue, another wolf?" the man asked as he suddenly appeared. He had a rifle in his hands and he pointed it at Kagome and screamed, "Its another one of those wolves, get her blue! Before she tries to escape!"

The wolf ran at Kagome, barking loudly. Kagome quickly turned around and jumped out the already broken window before the wolf could get to her. She landed with her knees bent but quickly began to run again, the wolf hot on her trail.

She could hear gunshots and the bullets passing by her. The hot breath from the wolf behind her seemed to be getting closer and louder with every step she took.

'I don't want to die!'

Somehow Kagome found the strength to run faster and she slowly began to make some space between herself and the wolf when suddenly a bullet caught her arm, instantly making a gash. Kagome could hear the old man's cheer as she stumbled and let out a loud cry of agony. She kept running as fast as her legs could take her.

She had to survive, for her mother and Sota. She needed revenge but that would not happen now. Now was the time to finally get out of this place and think of a plan. Suddenly the old man called back his wolf and Kagome looked back to see that it had stopped it stopped its chase. Relief filled Kagome but she did not stop. She heard the old man speaking to the wolf. "The animals wounded, Blue. It will slow down soon enough and then we can kill it. Lets let it think it will get away for the time being." That was all Kagome heard before she began running out of the city that had been protected by the shield from everything else.

She didn't know where she was going, nor did she care.

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WOW! Her everyone thank you for all of your reviews! Im so glad many of you like my story. Please Review its what keeps me going and the chapters out faster!

Thank you my reviewers!

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	3. Haze

A Wolf's Cry Chapter Three – Haze 

Kagome was freezing. Ever inch of her body was shivering uncontrollably.

When she had finally gotten out of that damn city she found out that it was snowing rather than being dry like the city, and Kagome was still in her tank top and shorts. She thought about turning back and getting a jacket but remembered that old man with the wolf would be there to kill her so she decided to press on into the wilderness.

The warm red liquid was still dripping down her arm and was leaving a trail of blood behind her. The bullet had made a gash in her arm and now it hurt like a bitch and it wouldn't stop bleeding Kagome had tried to use her miko powers but sadly found out that she was too weak to use them.

She had been so focused on getting out of the city she never thought once about even healing herself before she left. It had taken all of her strength to leave that place and she now regretted not healing herself before she left.

Kagome slowly made her way through the now rapid falling snow. She couldn't barley even see right in front of her and she had to keep her head down most of the time so she knew where she was stepping.

The snow was up to her knees and she had a hard time walking through the snow, sometimes falling because of how deep it was.

How long had it been snowing out here? It never snowed in the city, but then again that shield was always around it so it was probably snowing for a long time out here.

Kagome stopped for a minute to catch her breath. She was getting very weak now making it hard for her to breathe. And now she was becoming dizzy. Clutching her wound, Kagome let herself fall to the ground and into the snow as she began gasping for air.

The wound on her arm had grown larger from it not being treated properly and blood was flowing freely out of it now. Her eyes were becoming blurry and her mind was becoming dizzy.

It seemed like she had walked for days but she couldn't even tell when the sun rose or fell with how much snow was falling down now.

Kagome slowly turned her head to look in back of her. It looked like she had been walking over a long bridge that seemed to go on for forever. Kagome shook her head, trying to clear her eyes of the haze that was filling them.

'I have to get up...I have to keep going. I'll do it for mamma...and Sota.'

Hope and perseverance filled Kagome as she stood up and began to walk again, struggling to keep her alive. The snow was pouring out of the sky like there was no tomorrow and it didn't help with Kagome's eyesight at all.

'If only I was stronger' Kagome thought silently to herself as she kept walking through the snow. Taking a step in front of her, Kagome's foot sank extremely deep in the snow, causing her to fall again. It must have been a hole Kagome cursed as she wordlessly struggled to pick herself up and began walking again.

It had been at least an hour when Kagome finally reached a, what looked to be, small town. She was becoming dizzy again and Kagome wasn't sure about the outcome of what would happen if she fell again.

She winced as another sting of pain shot through her body causing her to stumble forward. She didn't know where she was now, but all she knew was that she was walking in a graveyard. There were tombstones everywhere and she wondered if there had been a war here.

She stood still for a few moments shivering before she fell to the ground lifelessly. Her whole body was numb and Kagome couldn't feel anything. She began coughing uncontrollably and Kagome ended up struggling to breathe again when the coughing finally ceased.

'The bullet must have had poison in it.'

That was Kagome's last thought before blackness engulfed her, the red image of her blood slowly covering the pure white snow around her would be forever imprinted on the back of her eyelids.

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"I'll show you the way to get there," the old man told them; slowly standing up from the beating he had just received from his other pack members. The old man led the group of four to the far end of the town and into the graveyard.

"I smell blood," said Kiba, walking only a few steps into the graveyard. The others lifted their noses and took a whiff of the air around them and agreed. The five of them followed the scent until they saw someone lying still as stone on the ground. The group kneeled down, all except one, and examined the person on the ground. One of the group members turned the person over so the person was laying on it's back.

"It's a woman" Hige spoke up, surprise evident on his face.

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Another chapter out...Finally! I'm so glad so many of you like my story! Thank you for all the reviews!

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	4. Healing

A Wolf's Cry

Chapter Four – Healing

"Is she dead?" Toboe spoke up, looking down at the woman in question. The others shifted uncomfortably as Kiba took the woman's wrist in his hand. "She's not dead. She's still got a pulse but she's injured. We need to help her." Kiba said, looking at her bleeding arm. He brought it to his nose and smelt the wound. "There's gun powder mixed in her scent and her blood. Somebody must have shot her."

The old man stood up and slowly began walking away. "Lets find some shelter so we can heal her, we should hurry, the snow is falling fast."

Tsume, who had been standing the whole time, trudged angrily past Kiba, Hige, and Toboe. "We should just leave her to die! She doesn't mean anything to us and you still help her! You're all pathetic. We should be worrying about getting to Paradise, not some stupid girl we just found!" said Tsume, walking ahead of everyone. "Do as the old man says. We need to get her fixed up before we can leave this damn place."

Both Kiba and Hige grabbed the woman gently by the arms and wrapped them around their necks as they began to carry her. They both noticed how light she was and wondered how she could have survived with her being so skinny. The first thought Kiba thought was, Where did she come from? How did she get here? And, How long was she in the storm? He hoped those questions would be answered once she woke up. Hige was just excited that there was another woman around.

The old man led the group followed by Tsume and Toboe while Kiba, Hige and the girl were bringing up the rear. Toboe turned to Tsume and said, "I know you didn't mean that Tsume. She has just as much right to live as we do. What if you were in her place Tsume?"

Tsume stopped and looked at Toboe. "Like that would ever happen," he said and began walking again. Toboe sighed before, once again following after his friend Tsume.

They walked a short distance before they reached the remaining of a house. There was a roof but it had many holes in it and only three of the four walls were still standing, the other one probably got knocked down. There was a medium sized spot where there was no snow and Kiba and Hige brought the girl over and laid her down on it. Her lips were beginning to turn purple, as were her arms, and she needed to get warm fast.

"I'll go find some herbs for her wounds" Toboe said and ran out before anyone could object. He knew exactly where to get them, he had found them when Kiba was hurt so it shouldn't take him long for him to get there or to return.

Kiba stood up from his kneeling position beside the girl. "I'll look for some fire wood," he turned towards the old man. "It'll take faster if you come with me." The old man nodded his head and they began to leave. Before fully exiting, Kiba turned to Hige. "Make sure she stays alive while were out," he said before they took off into the snowstorm.

Hige inched closer to the raven-haired girl; a grin appeared on his face but was soon replaced with a frown. He glared up at Tsume, the guy always had to ruin his fun. "Why are you here? Aren't you going to leave?" Hige asked, slightly agitated. Tsume leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. He opened one eye to look at Hige. "No." Hige's eyes widened. "Why?" asked Hige, almost desperately? Tsume closed his eye again, trying to hold his temper at bay. "Because I have to make sure you don't molest her you idiot." Hige huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Tsume you should really get your mind out of the gutter, you're really disgusting sometimes" Hige said angrily. Tsume growled in annoyance towards the pup, causing Hige to move back into the corner of the wall. "Jeez Tsume, I was just kidding," Hige said with a goofy smile as he scratched the back of his head nervously. "You really should loosen up buddy." Tsume didn't even bother looking at the fool on the floor. "Whatever" he said and ended the discussion. 'Why do I get stuck with the idiot?'

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"Where am I" Kagome asked as she let her echo into the dark that was everywhere around her. "Is anyone out there?" Kagome called out desperately. Kagome hoped someone was there, she needed someone to be there, and she was so scared. To her disappointment the only answer she got back was the lonely echoes of her own voice asking, "Is anyone out there?" There had to be an exit out of this place and Kagome began to run as fast as she could, not knowing that she could never escape the pitch-black color that surrounded her.

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"I'm back," Toboe announced as he ran back into the room, an armful of herbs with him. Both Tsume and Hige's heads lifted when Toboe arrived. Their eyes watched Toboe until he went over to the girl. "Is she okay?" asked Toboe, sitting down next to the girl. Toboe began to place the already dampened herbs on the woman's wound. Hige studied Toboe and the woman carefully. "Yeah she's alive still, but she's really cold. Kiba and gramps need to be back soon or she might not make it through the night."

Hige leaned against one of the walls and crossed his arms in back of his head and rested it in his hands. Still standing, Tsume was looking out into the blizzard. "She'll be fine you idiot. Don't you know how to use your nose? Kiba and the old guy are already here."

As if on cue, Kiba and the old man stepped into the run down house with lots of logs in hand. They walked into the middle of the room – first making sure there was some of the roof on top of them- and started to stack the logs in a mini teepee shape.

When they were finished, the teepee was a very large size, guaranteed to make this place warm as soon as it was lit. The only thing to do now was to light it. "Does anyone have a match?" asked Kiba as he looked at everyone. The old man pulled out a packet full of matches and handed Kiba one. "Here you can use this." The old man said. Scraping the match on the sand paper on the back of the packet Kiba lit the match and brought it down on a log. He kept it there until it took to the match and started a rather

large fire.

Kiba dropped the match into the fire then looked at Hige and said, "Bring her close to the fire. It should warm her up pretty fast."

Hige did as he was told to and picked the unconscious girl up from the floor, brought her over to the fire and set her down. Toboe walked over and sat next to Hige who was by the fire. "I guess all we do now is wait," said Toboe, stretching his arms above his head and let out a yawn. They kept watching the girl as her skin slowly changed from the dark purple to her regular skin color. Hopefully she would wake up soon.

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Kagome kept running as fast as she could. She couldn't believe it, there was a light at the end of the hell tunnel. Only a few more minutes and she would be out of the darkness. It seemed to be getting bigger with every stop she took. Finally reaching it she hesitated before stepping through, waiting to see what would be on the other side.

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Suddenly the girl began to stir on the ground and both Toboe and Hige gathered around her while the others looked on.

Kagome slowly opened her eyes as she stared right into two different sets of wolf eyes. She panicked for a few moments and blinked her eyes a few more times before she realized it was just two guys that were really close to her. 'There just human, not wolves. I must have been imagining it.' She accidentally pushed up on her bad arm. A gasp escaped her lips as a sharp pain shot through her. 'Ouch! I guess I forgot about that.' Fully sitting up she sat Indian Style on the ground, clutching her wound to herself as she looked at everyone around herself. "Who are you all? How did I get here?" Kagome asked no one in particular but hoped for an answer. One of them spoke up first. He seemed to be a little younger than Kagome but seemed very sweet by the way he talked. "Well I'm Toboe,' He pointed to himself than pointed at an older guy with silver, white hair.

He reminded Kagome of Inuyasha and she tried not to look surprised. "That's Tsume, and those three over there are Kiba, Hige, and gramps" Toboe said, pointing to them also as Kagome looked at them. Each had nodded there heads when their name was said so Kagome know who was who. Kagome looked at Toboe again as he began to speak once more. "And the answer to your second question is that we brought you here. Hige and Tsume watched over you while I went to go get herbs and Kiba and gramps went to get fire wood."

Kagome looked surprised and looked down at her wound. "So you healed me. I'm thankful," she said looking at him. Toboe seemed to blush at her comment and turned away. "Well it wasn't all me, don't forget Kiba and grandpa got the firewood!" Kagome smiled at him for a minute and turned to Kiba and the old man. "Thank you also for healing me."

Kiba seemed to be looking right into the depths of her blue eyes; they seemed to go on for forever. All different kids of emotions were swirling around them. They were so alluring and so beautiful that he had to force himself to not look at them when he said 'Your welcome' to her. Kiba spoke up. "Why were you out in the snow? What caused you to be out there all by yourself? Don't you have a family?" He noticed he seemed to have a hit a tender spot at the last question as he noticed her shirt uncomfortably. Sorrow and anger filled Kagome's eyes as she began to speak. "I came home one day and I found both my mother and brother killed. It was horrible, their blood was everywhere and I hadn't been there to save them. It was...it was a wolf and an old man that killed them and soon they tried to kill me as I found out soon after." She paused for a minute to see what their reactions would be before continuing. "He called me a wolf and began shooting at me. One of the bullets got my arm and all I could do was run out of the city and into the snow. I kept walking and walking until I couldn't take it anymore and collapsed." Kagome let out a long deep breath that she was holding and looked down at her injured arm.

The fire felt nice against her skin and it made her feel safe. The man named Tsume stared at her intently. "You say the old man called you a wolf. Why are you offended? You are a wolf after all, I can smell it." Tsume stood up and walked over to Kagome. "What's your name?" he asked kneeling down next to her. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Kagome," she answered simply. "And I'm not a wolf, how can I be?!" Kagome began to panic now. "I'm just s regular girl not some animal!" Tsume growled down at her. "We're not animals! If you really think we are, I'll show you what an 'animal' can do!" Tsume's growling became louder as he grabbed Kagome by the shoulders. Her eyes were shut tight, not wanting to see what he looked like tight now. Suddenly and arm wrapped around her shoulder and her back was pressed against someone's chest and she heard a voice speaking, it was Kiba's.

"Stop it Tsume!" Kiba yelled as he pushed Tsume away from Kagome. "She might not have known that. She could have been shielded from it!" Tsume, who had landed on the ground, stood up now. "What idiot of a wolf doesn't know its a wolf?!" Ignoring Tsume's question Kiba turned and looked down at Kagome. "Do you have anywhere to go?" He asked quietly. Kagome nodded her head slowly and he continued to speak.

"Then you can come with us, to Paradise."

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Well hopefully it was long enough because it was a bitch to write! Well please review and tell me what you thought of it. Also if there are any mistakes or questions just put it in your review or e-mail me.

Thank you for all the reviews!

From 

stFoxfire; lyger yuy; fluffysprincess; o0ShadowXFox0o; me; kagome15; Amaya; kiba'scutie; Macha; akumariver; sango16; Broken Angel; Karama; Scittaru; LDD; Jamee; crystalRaven44; suchi; darkkitsune; InuKitsuneMiko; darknessflame66; Cresent Moon22000; lady3; vampirePandora

From 

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See you next chapter!


	5. Wolf

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth...

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

Chapter Five – Wolf

"Paradise?" Kagome questioned. Kiba nodded his head. "Yes, Paradise."

Toboe came and sat in front of Kiba and Kagome. "Yup, that's where were headed!" Toboe said happily. Kagome turned and looked at him curiously. "I've never heard of a place like that. Why are you going there anyway?"

Hige crawled over to them and sat down next to Toboe. "We are going for the women!"

Toboe and Kagome both began to laugh as a long grin appeared on Hige's face. Tsume and Kiba however, both sighed and shook their heads. "He may go for the women but," Kiba spoke, "the rest of us go to be free, away from humans and this place. Paradise is a place where everything stays green and lively. There's always clear blue water there and food that could last you until you die. Each of us have other reasons of going also but when you narrow it down, it's for one reason, to have your greatest desire fulfilled."

Kagome listened carefully as Kiba spoke. "It sounds like a beautiful place. But I still don't get one thing, how can I be a wolf? I mean you cant be one so how would you know, unless?" Then the argument she had with Tsume came back to her. He had practically said he was a wolf and he told her bluntly that she was one but...

"Are you a wolf? Wait, they've been extinct for hundreds of years, so you cant be..." Kagome let her voice trail off with the last word. 'I can't be, Inuyasha would have noticed but-' Kiba silenced her thoughts as he began to speak again. "Yes we are all wolves here but we wont hurt you so you don't have to worry about that." Kagome tensed in his arms. "How do I know you wont hurt me?" she asked. "We would have already done that if we wanted to." Kiba answered and continued. "We have been able to survive this whole time by disguising ourselves as humans, we were never extinct." He paused for a minute before continuing. "I can smell you a wolf just as much as anyone else that's not human can. You might not have known because, like I said before, you could have been shielded from it by your family or there could be something hiding your true form."

Kagome pushed herself out of Kiba's grasp and slowly stood up, holding onto her injured arm. "This isn't right, I...I cant be a demon."

The old man Kagome had forgotten about found his way to his feet and stood up, hands in his coat pocket. "There is a difference between wolves and demons. Demons are an ancient evil that have immense strength and unnatural power. Wolves are the same as you might see them out you front door, but some have the special ability to disguise them as humans. They don't have any unnatural power. Demons have been dead or non-existing for a very long time. There aren't any around anymore so there is no chance of you being a demon."

'At least that's good to know' Kagome thought. "Hey, its not that bad being a wolf Kagome! You'll like it, I guess its pretty cool" said Toboe. Kagome smiled down at him. "Alright Toboe I trust you." Kagome told him and sat down again. "Now," the old man began, "had there been anything strange that has happened to you?"

Kagome put her finger to her lips and though for a few moments. "I remember smelling the scent of flowers once, it had been around for a while but then it suddenly disappeared. Only a faint smell of it was left. I had asked my friends if they had smelt it at all and they all said they hadn't. I know that sounds weird but does that have anything to do with a wolf?" If it did Kagome was ready to hear it.

It made Kagome both scared and love the fact that she could be a wolf but whatever it came out to be, she would always stay the Kagome she was now. At least she hoped that.

Kagome watched as there eyes widened. 'Here it comes' Kagome thought. A smile appeared on all of there lips. "Yes. That is perfect evidence that you are a wolf. You see, only wolves can smell the flower maiden while humans cant because their noses are not as developed as ours are. Cheza, the flower maiden, was made of Lunar Flowers, which is a rare kind of flower that is not found here anymore. That must have been the scent that you picked up. Cheza had been stolen and taken away so her scent did disappear somewhat and now we have to find her because she will help us find Paradise." Kiba said and continued. "Then you told us before about the old man with the wolf. That wolf only attacks other wolves, and you said that it attacked you, that is another reason."

Kagome realized that they were right and it made perfect sense but why hadn't Inuyasha known? She glanced at the bracelet around her wrist, catching everyone's attention.

"Hey what is that?" Hige asked, moving over to Kagome to get a good look at it. She smiled at it. "My mother gave it to me when I was very young but the strange thing was that she told me to never take it off and she was serious about it. The truth is that I took it off a few times but I mostly kept it on."

Toboe held her wrist in his hand gently and was inspecting it carefully. "Hey guys! This could be what's holding her wolf form!" he said happily. Kagome looked down at him. "Do you really think so?" Toboe nodded his head rapidly. "Take it off, maybe I'm right!"

Kagome did as she was told and took the bracelet off but nothing happened. Toboe looked sadly at her. "I guess I was wrong Kagome I-" he was cut off by Kiba.

"No Toboe I think your right, her scent suddenly got stronger. Kagome, you need to believe you a wolf for it to work."

'So Inuyasha never knew because I always had this bracelet on and maybe only wolves could smell it even though I had the bracelet on. That's probably why Kouga liked me so much' thought Kagome as she closed her eyes and cleared her mind, only thinking of wolves.

She saw herself looking at a black wolf with deep blue eyes. It was beautiful but it disappeared right when she opened her eyes. 'Did it work?' she thought and stared at both Hige and Toboe who were right in her face. 'I don't feel different' she thought and looked down at her hands...paws? Paws?!

'Oh my dear god' Kagome thought and fainted.

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I know this was a short chapter but I had to get this one done so I could get to the better and longer parts. Its summer vacation for me now so I'll probably have faster updates than usual so look for my story! Thank you for all the reviews but if you do review my story please don't keep writing the same thing over and over again because I like to hear what you though about each chapter. Thank you once again and don't forget to review!

Thank you reviewers!

From 

me; iowa chic; akumariver; Chey1391; fluffysprincess; sango16; Arri; darknessflame66; Akki Usagi; A. A.; InuKitsuneMiko; christinatails; Kuroneko13; jamee; LDD; chlo; teenager15; Karama; o0ShadowXFox0o

From 

KougaFangirl12345; lysia1982; Demon Girl; Eclipse the silver wolf; Angel Of Life01; me; k; Jasmin; KagomeXLegolas-rox; Sake-is-Yummy; starangel4899

If you have any questions just e-mail me, put it in your review or talk to me on aol!

Until next time,

Dark Paine


	6. Beginnings

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth...

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

Chapter Six – Beginnings

'Flower...and water...I can smell them, but how?'

Slowly openings her eyes, Kagome looked around herself curiously. Indeed she was surrounded by the innocently gentle flowers that caressed her fur when the wind blew. Just beyond the flowers was pure blue water that fell from the grassy cliff and into the calm awaiting stream below. Swimming around in the water were fish that made Kagome think of sushi, she was hungry after all.

Kagome slowly stood up and made her way to the waters edge, enjoying the 'swish' the flowers would make when the wind blew. She sat down and took a deep breath. 'Was it all just a dream?' She still felt the same inside but.... Looking down into the water, Kagome focused her eyes on the figure that appeared, her eyes widened in shock, mouth open.

The same black wolf she had seen when she had closed her eyes, telling herself she was a wolf, was now looking right back at her. Stunned, Kagome quickly jumped back, now standing and not looking into the water. She blinked her eyes and shook her head in disbelief.

'Is it really true? Am I a wolf?' Kagome asked herself many times. Walking back over to the waters edge and sitting down she looked into the water again. She saw the same black wolf with the same deep blue eyes. She began to move her eyes and her head to the side to see if it would mimic her. She had even stuck out her tongue before completely understanding that it was herself.

She stood up on all fours and turned to the side to get a good look at herself. She guessed she was the regular size of a female wolf, which would be smaller than the male. Her fur was pitch black and was nicely groomed; maybe it was because of how much time she spent on doing her hair. Her tail was long and soft looking and Kagome would enjoy sleeping on it sometime in the future. Her ears were, what she would say, the right size and were probably just as soft as her tail was.

Looking down at her paws she found them very large, larger than a normal dog, with sharp claws for ripping flesh apart and for puncturing skin to hold onto the hide of an animal. Kagome began flexing her claws in the dirt and enjoyed how good it felt. She smiled in happiness as she closed her eyes, continuing to flex her claws.

Opening her eyes once again she looked into the water and bared her teeth. Her top lip seemed to curl in, in a snarl and she growled at herself. Her fangs were large and sharp for sinking easily into flesh and tearing it apart.

Her tail stood straight up as did the fur on her back, her legs were spread evenly apart and her chest was low to the ground as she began to growl louder at herself. It scared Kagome to the bone just thinking about what she could do with those teeth and claws. Did this mean she had to kill an innocent animal just to survive? If it did she would feel bad for the animal but she had to get revenge for her families death...and she would enjoy it, every second of their pain, every drop of blood that was bled from their bodies. The last thought scared her but it wouldn't change anything. Suddenly a bullet flew right past her head and she turned around to see the same man who had shot at her when she was at her house. His gun was pointed right at her chest, one eyes closed while the other took aim.

"I'm going to kill all you wolves if it's the last thing I do!" he cried as he pulled the trigger.

-----------------------------------------

Kagome's eyes sprang open as her head immediately left the ground, panting. It was all a dream, nothing was real... except her being a wolf she realized when she looked down and saw the same paws that held deadly claws in them. She began flexing her claws again feeling the same enjoyment she had felt in her dream.

Kagome looked around the room. It was true they all were wolves. She saw a white and brown colored wolf against the wall, still awake and watching her. She looked in front of herself and saw another brown wolf, but this one was younger then the other and had a collar around his neck, it must have been Hige. Last she looked towards the farthest wall from her where Tsume had been last. Instead of seeing Tsume a gray wolf took his place.

She suddenly felt a movement bedside her and she looked down. It was a rusty colored wolf that had its back pressed against her side. Kagome bent her head down next to his body, trying to figure out the scent. It was Toboe. His scent was pure and untainted, still young. He was a little smaller than her but that was only because he was not fully grown. He reminded her of Shippo and when he would sleep with her in her sleeping bag at night and it suddenly made Kagome happy.

He was moving around a lot in a non-comfortable manner, head moving up and down, legs moving like he was running from a nightmare. Kagome brought her head down slowly to rest on Toboe's neck, trying to comfort him. He instantly stopped moving and settled down. Kagome curled her tail around him, much like a female would do with her pups, and fell into a peaceful sleep. They both lay there warm and comfortable.

Kiba and the older wolf watched this happen while sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall. Tsume and Hige had already fallen asleep minutes before, leaving only Kiba and the old wolf the only ones up. The old man spoke up. "Makes you wonder how dangerous she could be when she realizes her own strength doesn't it?"

They sat in silence for a few more minutes enjoying the crackling of the fire. Kiba couldn't deny that Kagome was a very attractive wolf just by looking at her sleeping. It made him think highly of her when she comforted Toboe when he was having a nightmare and wondered what she would be like when she had pups of her own. She looked so peaceful sleeping there, bringing a smile to Kiba's face.

Deciding he should get some rest also, Kiba walked over to the corner of the room, in his wolf form, curled up and went to sleep. The old man did the same soon after.

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Daybreak came and everyone started to rouse. All began to stretch in the canine way. The old man, Tsume, and Kiba were the first up followed by Hige and soon after Kagome got up. Yawning, Kagome stretched her front and back legs along with her back. 'I could get used to this' thought Kagome silently. She didn't notice the surprised looks Tsume and Hige gave her when she was standing on all fours. "What a babe!" Hige said softly to Tsume. Tsume rolled his eyes but still watched her.

Looking down to see Toboe still asleep Kagome nudged his head with her own, slowly rousing himself. Changing into his disguise he asked, "What's wrong?" He stood slowly and yawned, stretching his arms over his head and looked down at Kagome who cocked her head to the side and watched him. A smile appeared on his face as he patted her head happily. "You look beautiful Kagome! See I told you it's not that bad being a wolf!"

If Kagome were in her human form she would have smiled at him.

'Now how do I change back into my human form? Maybe I have to do the same thing when I wanted to change into a wolf? Lets see what happens.' Thought Kagome as she began to change into her human form. Pulling her hands out in front of her body she knew it worked when she saw the human hands. She looked down at Toboe. "I think we are leaving soon." Toboe smiled up at her and nodded his head

Kagome looked down at her arm and noticed that the bandage on her arm was still there. She lightly touched it to see if it still needed to heal. A sharp pain went through her and she instantly removed her hand from the wound. It hadn't fully heal yet but it should hopefully do so soon.

The old man began walking out of the shelter. "I'll show you the way to Paradise, but I can only taken you so far." He began and everyone followed him.

They walked through the snow easily since it had stopped storming making it easier to see where they were going without any confusion. The walk was a short and easy one, but they suddenly stopped when they came to a window like thing that was missing a few pieces so there was a large open space. It sat in the middle of a little hill that was covered in snow. The old man passed through followed by Kiba, Tsume, Hige, Toboe and last Kagome.

Kagome slid her legs through the hole and dropped to the ground, landing safely on her feet. The group had waited for her but began walking once she had caught up with them. They followed the old wolf through many tunnels and Kagome saw big rats along the way, making her get creped out before they finally stopped. "This is as far as I can take you," he said and pointed down the endless tunnel that they now stood in front of. "I can't guarantee what will happen to you all. You might be chasing something that doesn't even exist."

No one said a word until Tsume spoke up. "It's not like a wolf from a different pack to help outsiders. Why did you help us?" he asked as he walked forward. "You all reminded me of myself when I was young and foolish" was the old wolf's simple reply. "Even though you, old man, never made it to Paradise, I sure as hell know that there is no doubt in my mind that we will." Those were Tsume's last words to him before Kiba started running in the direction in front of them and one by one the rest of the group followed.

They all ran now in their true wolf forms. Kagome running with a slight limp as the old man watched on. "Kids!" he spat as he made his way back to his own pack.

Kagome ran as fast as she could with the limp. She was so excited and she felt the erg to howl and decided to try it out. Lifting her head up she let out a howl of excitement. It was very loud and it echoed on and on. She howled again but it wasn't only her this time, both Hige and Toboe joined in and the group began to pick up speed. They all looked so happy running so freely and it made Kagome wonder what would lie ahead. Finally letting out another howl Kiba and the reluctant Tsume howled, completing their packs howls of joy. They ran and ran as their howls echoed through all of the tunnels letting everything that was down there know that they were there and they were moving fast.

'We're going...to Paradise!'

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Another chapter done! Sorry for the long wait even though I didn't think it was that long. Well I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter so please tell me what you though in you review! No flames please. Any questions? Please e-mail me and I will answer them! I decided not to answer them in my story so if you want questions answered e-mail me!

Thank you reviewers!

From 

Serena SilverMoon; Adriana the dark angel; hells angel (fimvr); iowa chick; me; Jamee/ xoulblade; Jamee/ xoulblade; midnightryder; Shizuka Ishida; me; Mefdet; kyli the wolf hanyou; sango16; Luscious; Lolly Pop Princess of Geiko; LDD; InuDragon; angeldemon45678; Broken Angel; akumariver; InuKitsuneMiko; teenager15; kikyo killer

From 

vampirebunny; Lady of Chaos 2005; ChaosKree8er; Demon Girl; starangel4899; ebony; kagomepotter; ZeLLy907; Kaimi Kitsune; Black Kitsune; Sapphire fox girl; Tjaganshi; Golden Glow Wolf.; Cold-Hearted NightFox; k; Jasmin A.k.A A Girl Who Loves Anime; kagedfox; Amara; devinedragonslayer; Deamon Drama Queen; Angel Of Life01; me; Sake-is-Yummy

Thank you for all the reviews! Until next time!

Dark Paine


	7. Flower

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth...

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

Chapter Seven – Flower

Silence. No one spoke now but all were excited.

The pack now stood before three dark and mysterious tunnels, one leading to the left, another leading to the right and the last in front. They had been running for hours, non-stop, only relying on Kiba's sense of direction.

This was not their first encounter with the confusing tunnels; in fact this was the fourth set they had come upon. Each set of tunnels before this one always had Kiba choosing the one that was always in front of them. Each time Kiba had lifted his nose into the air and sniffed for a particular scent that the rest of the group had no idea about. Hopefully, each of them though, he will get us there.

Kagome glanced down at her arm for what would be the hundredth time. The bandage was pure red, the stench of blood filled the air, and the next time they stopped Kagome would have to change the bandage.

"This way!" Kagome heard Kiba say. The pack was off almost as fast as they had come, still running in the tunnel in front of them. Even though they all were in their wolf forms they could still communicate with each other.

"Hey Kiba! How exactly do you know which way to go?" Kagome asked, catching up with him. He turned his head to look at her, still running. Kagome almost tripped over her feet. He had golden eyes...just like Inuyasha. Why hadn't she noticed before? They seemed to be drawing her into him and her eyes widened. She quickly shook her head to get rid of all the thoughts so she could hear him speaking. "I can smell it, the scent of Lunar flowers and its getting closer. We should be out of here really soon."

Kagome nodded her head, hearing every single word. 'Then I was right, he can smell it too from a far distance...but why cant anyone else?' The thought plagued Kagome but she thought nothing more of it as they kept running. She seemed to drift off into her own little world again, thinking about Inu Yasha, her ears flattening against her skull. It was so weird that Kiba had the same eyes as he did. They were both handsome but they weren't the same. Kiba was calm and thought things through. Inuyasha went into battles headstrong without thinking. Kiba was a wolf while Inuyasha was an Inu-hanyou. Kiba was probably attracted to things that were still alive while Inuyasha was attracted to the dead clay bitch. A smiled appeared on her face at the thought but soon faded.

She had ultimately left because of Kikyo and Inuyasha's relationship. She couldn't take the pain anymore at seeing them together, she didn't deserve it. Even though she had asked to stay by his side for as long as she could and he didn't say no, she couldn't anymore. It ripped her apart inside when Inuyasha tell Kikyo that he loved her more than life itself and that he would do anything for her. It hurt her more that he would leave almost every night to meet with Kikyo, leaving her unprotected and easy prey for any demon. She didn't want that anymore she didn't need Inuyasha...but why was she still thinking of him? 'I need to let go and move on with my life...I should feel happy that I have new friends...but my family...No! I will have revenge on them...after all if that old man wants to kill me, he will come after me.' She sighed. Life was always cruel to her.

"Hurry up! Do you want to get there or not?" called Tsume as he broke away from the pack and ran up ahead. Kagome's ears instantly perked up at his voice, as did Kiba's.

Kiba, not one to back down, ran faster, as did the others, wanting to get there as soon as possible.

Dirt kicking up from his back paws, Toboe ran trying to keep up with the group. "Hey guys! Look there's light! We must finally be at the end!" Toboe said happily from the back of the pack. He was probably the most excited out of all of them, especially once he saw the end.

Hige snorted from beside him. "No duh runt. Everyone can see it. I mean its so big who wouldn't?" he snapped, causing Toboe to cast him a saddened look. "Oh...I'm sorry I-I didn't know..." Toboe trailed off. "Yeah well now you do" Hige snapped again.

Kagome growled loudly at Hige, her eyes darkening angrily. It was just like how Inuyasha would yell at her for almost the same thing. "Stop being so mean to Toboe! He didn't do anything to deserve that! He was just trying to be nice by pointing out the end of this tunnel even if we already knew! That doesn't give you the right to lash out at him!"

Hige looked at her the whole time, mouth open. "Wow...beauty, brains, and bravery! You don't come across that much these days." Hige said dreamily. Kagome glared at him. "What'd you say?"

Hige looked away right when Kagome turned to him. He found the passing walls more interesting then her at the moment. "Oh nothing, nothing at all" he quickly replied.

Tsume couldn't take it anymore! All their arguing was starting to irritate him! "Will you all shut up back there? Someone could be at the end of the tunnel, ready to shoot us you idiots! Do you really want to get us all killed?" Tsume barked at them. No one said a word to him but a calm voice from beside him suddenly caught his attention. "Tsume, you should have realized by now that there is no one at the end," Kiba told him. "There's no reason to be all jumpy."

Tsume growled at him angrily. "I'm not jumpy."

As they came closer to the light filled end, the pack went from a full out run to a calm walk then finally stopping when the dirt met green grass.

"It's a forest! Great I wonder what's hiding in there," Hige said sarcastically as he walked into the open. He lifted his nose into the air and took a whiff. "Kiba was right, those humans and their foul smell aren't anywhere around here." He cocked his head to the side. "I would have thought they would be all around these woods, ready to ambush us."

Finding it safe, each member of the pack transformed into their disguises and began the long walk.

----------------------------------------------------------

"Have you found her yet? Is their any signal?" asked a woman desperately. The man she was talking to sighed and looked at her, obviously agitated. "No we haven't f-" A beeping sound caught his attention, cutting him off. "She's close." The woman said calmly but inside she was just glad that they had found her. 'I wont let you take her Darcia!'

The man the woman had been talking to moments before ran to the front of the airship. "Pinpoint that location immediately, its Cheza!"

The two men at the front of the airship frantically pressed buttons in front of them. "Yes Sir!" they said in unison. One of them spoke up. "Sir! Cheza is now located above us. It shows she is also in an airship that is currently descending, Sir." The man patted the soldier on the back. "Good job. Get ready to shoot it down!" He declared as he looked out the large front window again.

The woman gasped. "You cant do that! You'll hurt Cheza!"

The man turned to her. "Cher, if you want Cheza back you'll let me do the work for now." The woman named Cher sighed in defeat as the man smirked.

"Sir," came the voice of another soldier, "the airship is now in firing range. Sir."

The man chuckled. 'Now I have you.'

"Fire!" The command rang through every ear on board. A soldier who was in charge of the airships guns, aimed at Darcia's plane. A signal went off as the gun locked onto its target. Quickly pushing down a large blue button, the soldier fired at Darcia's airship. A loud boom sound could be heard as it hit the airship in front of them, sending it crashing to the ground.

"Nice shot men. Don't loose sight where it will land!"

"Yes Sir!"

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Damn it! Stupid bastards!" growled Darcia. "Well it looks like we will be landing soon Cheza." He spoke flatly as he turned around and found Cheza by the airships exit. "Cheza?" he began as he watched the Flower Maiden open the hatch, pressing the red button next to the door.

She looked at him blankly. Giving one last glance to Darcia, she let herself get sucked out of the exit. "Cheza!" screamed Darcia as he ran to see what happened to her. His eyes widened but then relaxed as a smile appeared oh his face. She was falling smoothly to the Earth, spinning slowly. At the moment she truly looked like a flower. 'I will find you Cheza. Make no mistake of that' Darcia though right before he disappeared behind the forest trees.

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"What the hell are those two airships doing?" came Hige's voice. "It's obvious that the really big airship wants to shoot down the Noble's airship, duh," Tsume answered. A growl emitted from Hige's chest. "What are you gonna do about it Porky? Try to beat me up? Lets see what you got," Tsume tested as he walked right up to Hige. Toboe pushed them apart. "Guys stop it! We're friends remember? Friends don't fight!"

"You told me before we came here that the Flower Maiden was the cause of the flower smell right?" Kagome spoke, catching everyone's attention and continued when she saw them each nod their heads. "That flower scent is close."

Closing his eyes, Kiba smelt the air slowly and agreed. "She's right."

Taking off into the woods, Kagome followed the scent. "Come on! You want to find her or not?" Kagome yelled from ahead of the pack. The rest of the group followed with no hesitation as the one airship went down in the background.

-------------------------------------

'This one is finally away. Finally free...' The Flower Maiden thought as she slowly fell. The wind blew around her once again, making her twist in the air as she closed her eyes and smiled, for the first time, enjoying how it felt.

---------------------------------------

"Kiba I see her! I see Cheza!" Toboe yelled, finally catching up to him. They paused for a few minutes and looked at Toboe as he brought his hand up and pointed at a figure in the air. It was she, and she appeared to be falling! Kiba looked directly where she would land and his eyes widened. She'd land on the top of a mountain where anything could see her or hurt her.

"Come on we need to get to her!" Kiba announced as he headed in the direction of the mountain in sight. "I hate running" Hige said breathlessly. "I wouldn't be surprised with all the food you eat and how fat you are." Tsume said bluntly. "Hey! Its not my fault!" Hige yelled back at him.

Toboe sighed. "Guys please stop. Cant we just get along?" he asked.

"Whatever." Tsume said, ending the conversation.

-----------------------------------

Kagome had made it to the mountain before anyone else but she didn't have to wait long for the rest of the pack to arrive. "Nice to see you made it." Kagome said with a smile. "It looks pretty steep but I think we will make it," she added as their eyes traveled up the mountain.

"Pretty steep huh?" Hige said, catching his breath. "By the looks of it, its one slip and your dead!"

Without saying a word Kiba jumped onto a ledge that stuck out of the mountain and began to climb. He jumped so high up making Kagome wonder, how? If he could do it couldn't she do it too? 'Might as well try' she thought and jumped.

It suddenly felt like she was flying. The wind blowing in her face, and the scent of Lunar flowers all around her...it felt so real. It made Kagome feel calm once her feet left the ground, only until she had to grab onto a ledge or she'd fall right back down to the ground. She looked below herself to find that both Hige and Toboe still on the ground, but where was Tsume? Suddenly hearing a sound, Kagome turned to her left and saw Tsume also climbing the mountain. She looked up and thought about jumping again but decided against it.

She could fall right back down if she missed or didn't catch a ledge in time. She began to climb up, grabbing onto a ledge and pulling herself up. She heard Hige and Toboe finally start the climb by all the noise that had begun from below her. Kagome suddenly felt glad that she wasn't wearing her green school uniform, or she would be giving the boys below her a nice view of her rear.

Both Tsume and Kiba were ahead of her and she began to pick up the pace.

------------------------------------

More than a half hour had passed and they were finally towards the middle of the mountain. Kagome had caught up to Tsume and Kiba by this time and began climbing with them, catching her breath once in a while.

Both Hige and Toboe were a few ledges down from them. They were all quiet; their only focus was making it to the top of the mountain, than find Cheza.

Kagome pushed off of a small rock with her feet and then pulled herself onto a large ledge that was big enough for her to walk around on. She took in a large breath as she stood, and then let it out slowly as to ease the pain from her wound. It still hurt but much of the pain was gone since she wasn't using it to pull herself up anymore. The pain was greater than what she was feeling now since she would use it to lift herself up to ledges that were above her.

She looked below herself and noticed that they were above all the trees and began to worry about falling. You could either go straight to the ground if you were lucky, or you would get caught in the trees. 'Ouch!'

A rumbling was heard followed by a crackling sound suddenly. The noise was that of something breaking and Kagome's head shot straight up. 'What's that noise?' The ledge she was on began to shake underneath her feet and Kagome let out a gasp. Everyone was too far away for them to help her in time so she couldn't as, she wouldn't risk their lives as well, and she would have to do it herself.

As if on cue, the larger rocks above her started to plummet to the ground, some almost hitting Kagome. Her teeth clenched as she fisted her hands at her side. 'I'll have to jump...but how?' The boulders were now streaming down the mountain and Kagome started to worry that she might not make it.

"Kagome! Get out of there now!" Tsume yelled from up above her.

Kagome's turned her attention to him until another voice caught her ears. "Hurry Kagome! You'll get hurt!" Toboe screamed, fear in his voice.

She had to thing fast or she could die. 'But I need to keep going.'

Kiba looked down and could barley see her. The rocks were falling down from right beneath him and he was sure the ledge he was on would break off. "Kagome!" he yelled, ready to go to her if need be.

'I'll jump after this boulder comes down.' Kagome thought to herself. From the corner of her eye she saw a huge boulder crashing down. She nearly dodged it and got ready to jump. 'An opening!' The absolute second Kagome was about to jump; the boulder she had just dodged hit the ledge she was on, causing her not to get a large enough jump to get out of the boulders path completely. She looked down in case she would fall and tried to figure out which ledge would be best to grab onto.

"Kagome watch out!" she heard Hige call to her. She took a quick glance at him before she followed his eyes and she looked up. A boulder was suddenly right in front of her and everything froze. It was too close for her to dodge even in mid air, and she suddenly thought she could die. Memories of her family, the Sengoku Jidai, of her school and her friends came into her all at once.

Everything began moving again and the rock hit her. The air instantly got knocked out of her lungs and she started to gasp for breath. 'Damn' she thought silently as the boulder began to push her down.

The pack watched as she fell, too shocked and afraid to do anything.

"Kagome!" Toboe screamed and got ready to jump but Hige grabbed his arm before he could. "Toboe stay right where you are! There's nothing we can do." He finished sadly and looked away. The sound of someone sliding down the mountain somewhere by him made him turn around to look who it was, and he saw Kiba. He-he was going after her? A smile appeared on his face. 'That guy is really crazy. I just hope he comes back with Kagome.'

--------------------------------

Scratching desperately at the rock, Kagome pulled herself to the top of it with much effort. She quickly jumped and tried to hold onto the ledge but found herself once again falling against the cliff. Only now that she was trying to hold on she was skidding down the mountain painfully. The rocks dug into her hands as she tried to stop herself and she could now smell the scent of blood strongly. 'My god I practically just got shot and now this! Kami-sama must really hate me.'

"Grab on!" demanded a voice next to Kagome. Kiba...he-he was there...next to her. 'Maybe Kami-sama doesn't hate me after all!'

"Kiba?" she asked shakily. He was skidding down the mountain with his legs, trying to save her and it made Kagome wonder before coming back into reality from hearing his voice. She looked at him, surprised.

"Grab on!" he ordered again. Quickly reaching out a bloodied hand, Kagome grabbed his outstretched one. Her hands were slippery from all the blood and Kiba was having a little trouble holding onto her hand as his hands were covered with it also. He pulled her onto his back and she immediately clung onto him as he hit a sturdy ledge. Wrapping his arms tightly under her knees, Kiba jumped off the ledge almost as soon as he landed on it.

He jumped onto the boulders that were falling towards them and headed up the mountain by using them to jump off of.

"Are you alright?" he asked her softly while jumping. She replied weakly and if he were human he could not have heard it. "I'm alright...I'm just tired and my hands hurt."

Kiba could see why they hurt as he looked down at them. They were bloody and dirt was filled in the cuts in her hands. If they weren't taken care of properly they could be infected. Looking back up, he jumped from the boulder he was on and landing on another one that was falling. "We are almost to the top. Once we get there we'll clean your hands," he said kindly to her as she rested her head on his shoulder and began to relax. "Thank you."

Passing by Toboe and Hige, Kiba made it safely to where Tsume was and landed quietly on a secure ledge. Tsume looked at him. 'What was with this wolf?' he wondered but didn't say anything about it and instead asked, "Is she alright?"

Kiba looked at Kagome, "She says she fine but her hands are injured," he stated flatly. He glanced down and saw Hige and Toboe finally starting to get closer to them. "We need to hurry up." The words seemed to have left his mouth at the same time he was thinking about it. Kiba looked up, eyes traveling up to the rest of the mountain and then back to Kagome. Her head still rested on his shoulder. She was wincing in pain as her bloodied hands twitched uncontrollably.

His eyes softened suddenly as determination filled him. He spoke softly to her, "Hold on tight so you wont fall." Instinctively her thighs tightened around his waist but her hands stayed where they were. Kiba tightened his hold under her knees once again and jumped.

"Kiba! Be careful! Its not just your life that could be endangered!" yelled Hige, catching Kiba's attention. A pang of anger hit Kiba surprisingly. 'I'm not trying to get us killed! Why the hell are they slowing down? Don't they realize she's hurt?' A small gasp of pain from Kagome brought himself out of his thoughts. Her hands were dripping blood and twitching from the pain that jolted through her body.

'How am I supposed to avenge my family when I can barley keep from getting hurt?' The sad thought coursed through Kagome's mind over and over and over again. 'I guess Inuyasha was always right. I am pathetic...'

Inuyasha...

The thought brought many questions to mind. Did he decide to give Kikyo flesh and blood and a new soul? Did he screw Kikyo over to become a full-fledged demon? What if Kikyo brought Inuyasha to hell? Or maybe, are they starting a family now and living happily ever after?

'Too bad I'll never go back to know.'

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Finally jumping off the last ledge, they glided through the air before Kiba's feet touched the ground safely. He crouched down and gently released her knees, letting her feet touch the ground softly underneath them so she could stand. Kagome brought her arms from around Kiba's shoulders to rest at her sides. He turned around and looked at her, concern in his eyes.

"We need to clean your hands" Kiba said as he took her hands in his, instantly causing her to wince in pain as she inhaled a sharp breath. Kagome quickly took her away from his and tried to look like she wasn't in pain but her eyes deceived her. "I'm fine, lets keep going" she tried to say firmly, trying to make him believe she was just fine. She didn't want to be a burden or slow them down with her injuries and it didn't help that they were only into the first few days of getting to know each other.

She slowly made her way past him, limping. She was only a step past him when Kiba grabbed her shoulder and she stopped.

"You and I both know your not alright so why don't we both save ourselves the trouble and just clean your wounds before we continue to find Cheza," he told her calmly.

Sadness found its way once again into Kagome's heart as the tears began to well up in her eyes. She turned to him. Why was he so focused on helping her? They barley even knew each other, so why?

"Why?"

He wasn't expecting the question but he would answer it nonetheless. "It was instinct. I wasn't just going to let you die."

It was a simple answer but it was one Kagome would never think would come out of his mouth and it suddenly made her happy. She smiled at him teary eyed before her legs began to give out on her with a sharp pain. She bit down hard and a hiss sound escaped through her clenched teeth and she began to fall backwards. Her back hit against Kiba's chest as he caught her before she could hit the ground.

"I told you, you weren't okay. I need to clean up your wounds." With that said Kiba gently sat down and placed Kagome in his lap, her back against his chest. And odd warm feeling pooled into Kagome's stomach as she tensed against Kiba's chest. It felt like thousands of butterfly's were trapped in her stomach and wanted out. She let out a sigh as Kiba reached into his coat pocket to get bandages, a bottle of water, and extra herbs that he was carrying for Kagome.

Kiba felt Kagome's figure still tense against his chest so he placed a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her. "Relax."

Kagome looked up at him for a few seconds before complying. She let out a deep sigh before melting against him as she leaned her head on his shoulder. A cool breeze passed by and the trees around them began to sway, almost dance.

A lone white butterfly suddenly landed on Kagome's outstretched leg. It was just so pure and innocent just sitting there. 'Just like Toboe...' Kagome thought happily but then was brought out of her thoughts by Kiba's voice.

"Let me see your left hand," he said kindly. She raised her bloodied hand and noticed that it had left a dark spot on her shorts where the blood must have sunk into. It wasn't very noticeable but if someone stared at her thigh very closely they could. That would never happen though because no one could get close enough to look at her thigh _that _closely.

Coming out of her thoughts once again, Kagome kept her eyes on Kiba and watched as he poured water from the water bottle on the medicinal herbs. The herbs became smelly and sticky once the water had sunk in which was almost immediately.

Kagome hated that smell ever since she had to put it on the wound that was on her arm. It always made Kagome think of the doctors she hated with a passion like no other. It didn't make anything better when she found out they were sticky so they would stay securely on the wound and heal it. It also hurt when the time came to change the herb and bandages when they were either full of blood or had fixed the wound. It was just like ripping a large band-aid that was securely stuck to your skin, off and it sometimes brought the little hairs from her arms right off with it. Why did life have to be so cruel to her?

Kiba washed her hand to get the dirt and little pebbles out of it, and he now had the medicinal herb in his hand that was a few inches above her still bleeding hand. Kiba looked at Kagome who looked back up at him, afraid of what would come next. "This might hurt a bit. Are you ready?" he asked her sternly. She bit her bottom lip, almost drawing blood and nodded her head. He took the cue to move on and he gently placed the whole herb around her hand and pressed down.

"Aiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!"

Her wound suddenly hurt much more than when the cuts in her hands were full of dirt and pebbles. It burned all over now and Kagome felt like she was in the depths of hell. "Ouch!" she hissed through clenched teeth as she fisted her hand, not caring how much it hurt.

After a few minutes of letting it set in, the burning slightly began to decrease but it began to pulse when the herb was securely wrapped around Kagome's whole hand. Kiba started to wrap her hand in bandages. He made sure her fingers were individually wrapped and not wrapped altogether so it would look like she was wearing a mitten.

Tying the ends of the bandage tightly together, Kiba finished with the first hand.

"Kagome!"

They heard someone scream, startling both of them and they turned to look at the cliff's edge. An arm was resting on the ground and Toboe popped his head over the ledge and looked at Kagome in Kiba's lap. A confused look came over him at the site of them but vanished when he remembered his question.

"Kagome are you alright?" he asked, quickly heaving himself over the ledge. At the same time Tsume came out of nowhere and landed beside Toboe. Tsume raised an eyebrow at both Kiba and Kagome and the position they were in. "We heard a scream but I guess it wasn't about the wounds," said Tsume sarcastically as he walked over to one of the trees and leaned his back against its' trunk.

Hige, who had finally made it to the top, was crouched by Toboe, pointing his finger at Kiba and Kagome, eyes widened. "Kiba, w-what are you doing to Kagome?! Are you molesting her?!"

Kiba narrowed his eyes at how foolish Hige was before he smiled and shook his head. "No Hige, I'm not molesting Kagome. I am wrapping her hands in herbs and bandages."

"Yeah Hige theirs nothing to worry about! I'm fine!" smiled Kagome as she nodded. She winced when Kiba pressed another herb to her other hand. "OUCH!!! You know you could have told me before you did that!" Kagome yelled angrily at him, then pouted. Grinning, Kiba shook his head at her rather cute expression before returning his thoughts to the bandages. Finding it securely on, he began to wrap her hand with bandages each finger individually wrapped.

Seeing her wince Toboe quickly made his way over to them and sat down. "Kagome what's wrong? Does it still hurt?"

Kagome shrugged. "Its just my hands and my legs that hurt a bit." A saddened look came over Toboe, immediately making Kagome sad also. She tried to cheer him up. "Don't worry Toboe! I'll be all right! I promise, okay? I'll be up right after Kiba's done and we'll finish our search for Cheza!"

A smile spread across Toboe's features and he nodded. "Okay Kagome but try not to hurt yourself anymore."

Kagome nodded in agreement and looked up at Kiba. "Are you almost done?"

He nodded as he tied the two ends of the bandages together. "All I need to do now is replace the herb and bandage covering your gunshot-grazed wound."

Kagome sighed and rested her head on his shoulder more comfortable. Kiba began untying the bloodied bandages, then placing them on the ground next to him and revealing the sticky herb that had been under them. Quickly grabbing s loose edge with his index finger and thumb, Kiba ripped the herb from Kagome's arm and she screamed.

"OUCH! God damn it! You don't have to be so ruff you know!" Once the words left her mouth she instantly closed it. She had never spoken that way _ever_ and she became embarrassed.

Without hesitation Kiba grabbed the last medicinal herb that had been soaked in water, and placed it over her old wound and wrapped it up. "Done," said Kiba finally. Kagome brought both of her hands in front of her and fisted her hands slowly then releasing and doing it once again. She winced but did nothing more when a stinging feeling shot through her hands. Smiled and rested her hands in her lap, "I guess we should go now, I'm feeling better already!"

Everyone nodded their heads and Hige sought out the chance to help Kagome up. 'No ones in my way! Ha ha now's my chance to talk to Ms. Single and beautiful' he thought as he made his way happily towards her as she struggled to get up off Kiba.

"Here Kagome I'll help you!"

Hige stopped dead in his tracks. The runt was already by her, his hand wrapped around her wrist as he helped her up! 'That stupid runt! Always ruining my plans!' he thought angrily.

"Thank you Toboe!" Kagome said happily as she smiled up at him and stood. Toboe closed his eyes and scratched his head, smiling back at her. "Aww it was nothing..." A faint tint of red appeared on his face.

Tsume and Hige were standing next to each other and watched them. "Its not fait that the runt is getting all the attention. Stupid love stuck puppy." Hige spoke up. Tsume chuckled and shook his head, hands in his pockets. "Jealous are you? Your just as love-struck as he is." Pouting, Hige leaned back against the trunk of the tree, arms crossed. "So."

Making it to his feet Kiba began walking towards both Tsume and Hige, Kagome and Toboe right behind him. "We should get going," Kiba said, brushing the dirt from his pants. He turned around to see Kagome and Toboe nod. "We probably would have been there by now if you had went a faster" said Tsume, "Hopefully your done getting hurt now girl." He turned to Kiba. "What are we waiting for?"

With one last nod Kiba was off running into the woods, following the scent of Lunar flowers, Tsume right behind him along with Hige.

Kagome looked down at Toboe. "Come on, we shouldn't keep them waiting" she said and he nodded before they both ran after the group.

They ran through the forest as fast as they could, over rocks, logs, and streams. Toboe noticed Kagome ran with a slight limp as he ran along side of her. He questioned her about it but she quickly said she was all right, slightly wincing at the time.

The smell of Lunar flowers got stronger with every step they took and Kiba was sure they would be there in a matter of seconds. They were so close now that nothing could stop them.

Then the group suddenly stopped. They were in a clearing where there was a lake that sat in the middle of it with large rocks pointing out of the water. On one very large rock, sat a girl with pink hair who was wearing a rather tight white outfit. Kagome's eyes widened, "That's her..." she said in excitement. "She's so pretty" Toboe said from beside Kagome. Hige smiled happily, "And she smells like flowers!"

"That's the Flower Maiden, she's meant to smell like flowers," Tsume told them and looked at Kiba who had started to move closer to her.

"Cheza" he said in wonder. At the call of her name Cheza lifted her head to stare at him. Kiba instantly froze. Her eyes...they were so gentle and they were a pink almost red color. She slid from the rock and into the water, beginning to walk towards Kiba, a smile on her face. Kiba took slow, easy steps to her and walked into the water as he changed to his real form. Finally reaching each other, the group on shore watching, Cheza dropped to her knees and hugged Kiba around the neck. His ears flattened against his skull as he let her gently hug him.

She nuzzled her face into his fur and spoke gently.

"We finally meet...Kiba."

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Well now you see why it took me soo long to update?? NO MORE COMPLAINING! Lol anyway please review! That's what keeps me going!

Thank you for all the reviews!

Until next time!

Dark Paine


	8. Escape

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth...

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

Chapter Eight- Escape

Cheza smiled into Kiba's soft pure white fur. Their forms were still in the water, Cheza hugging Kiba and he enjoying it very much so. No one expected the Flower Maiden to gasp suddenly causing everyone to draw their attention towards her before looking at what she was staring at. It was Kagome.

The Flower Maiden stood up slowly, still keeping her eyes on the female wolf while Kiba watched her, all the while feeling bad for the loss of warmth, and carefully started walking through the water towards Kagome.

"You...you are hurt," came Cheza's worried voice suddenly. "Let this one help you."

Kagome's eyes widened when she realized that the flower was talking to her and was taken aback at her words, yet at the same time she felt calm as the strong scent of Lunar Flowers assaulted her nose pleasingly. It brought warmth into her mind and soul as well as peace and she found herself liking it very much.

The female wolf watched as Cheza came closer, her pink hair blowing gently in the passing breeze, and watched her as she reached where the water met solid ground. Afraid of what to do next, Kagome began to take steps back.

"This one will not hurt you," Cheza said softly, her pink eyes pleaded with Kagome's blue one's for her to stop.

Kagome automatically took a step back, wincing, and quickly replied, "I'm fine please...I'm alright."

Cheza reached a hand out in front of her. "No you are not alright. You are bleeding and this one can sense it," she pointed to herself. "Please, this one does not want you to keep hurting..." She looked as if she would cry now.

Seeing the sad expression on the flowers face along with the gentle expression in her eyes, Kagome decided that the flower did not mean any harm so she stopped where she was and let Cheza reach her.

A smile played across Cheza's face when the female wolf stayed put. She then kneeled down on the ground, lightly tugging Kagome's arm for her to follow suit. Once Kagome was kneeling she sat on the back of her legs. Her eyes widened as she took in a sharp breath. A very strong shot of pain went through her whole body. 'Ouch!' She screamed in her mind. This newfound pain must have been caused by the event that had happened shortly before.

Seeing the painful look in her face, Cheza scooted closer to Kagome. "Please, let this one see your leg."

Kagome nodded and happily brought her legs out from underneath before she straightened them out in front of her. Cheza placed one hand lightly on Kagome's ankle and closed her eyes before stroking her hand up and down Kagome's entire leg.

An odd warm feeling came over Kagome and she quickly began to enjoy Cheza's touch. The feeling was almost like someone scratching behind a dog's ear. She closed her eyes at the nice feeling, when suddenly it stopped. Kagome opened her eyes to look Cheza, who was now crawling up to sit right beside her. The loss of Cheza's touch suddenly made Kagome want it again.

Gently grasping Kagome's wrist, Cheza led Kagome's hand to rest in one of her own while the other stroked it, the nice warm feeling coming back altogether.

Already out of the water and in his human disguise, Kiba along with the group watched the wolf and flower interact intently.

"Do you think Kagome's alright Kiba?" He heard Toboe say. He looked down at the young wolf. "She's fine Toboe, Cheza wouldn't hurt her."

Tsume turned to Kiba, eyebrows raised. "And just how can you be sure? We barley even know her for five minutes."

Hige walked over next to Tsume, hands in pockets. "She's a flower Tsume. She probably wouldn't even hurt a fly let alone a wolf. And even if she did do some crazy thing, we're here to protect Kagome no matter what," Hige said, staring at the two said people.

Cheza was now on the bullet-grazed wound, running her hand up and down it lightly. Kagome meanwhile, stared down at her legs and left hand Cheza had just been rubbing, in shock. Her legs didn't hurt any more when she moved them and neither did her hand, which was now clenched. It suddenly came to her what Cheza had been doing as she unclenched her hand. Cheza...Cheza had been healing her!

Now finished with the wound on Kagome's arm, Cheza moved to the other side of her and picked up her other wounded hand and began stroking it. The pain that was once there slowly began to disappear until she could not feel it anymore. Nothing hurt now...she felt like a whole new person, and full of energy.

She gave Cheza a quick glance and saw her smiling down at her before looking down at her hands. Using her teeth Kagome ripped off the knot on her right hand that held the bandages together and used her left hand to unwrap them, revealing the sticky medicinal herb. Kagome closed her eyes as her index finger and thumb began picking at the herb. 'Okay this is the first one of three to go. But it's going to hurt! Ouch! I can already feel it starting to hurt and I barley even lifted a piece of it up! Grrr.... Hopefully it wont hurt as much since the wounds won't be there anymore right? I mean if Cheza did heal me, they won't be there anymore hopefully. Well its now of never!'

Getting a large enough piece between her fingers, Kagome got a good grip on it and tore it off. She bit her tongue so she wouldn't scream, drawing blood the instant she bit down. Her eyes started to water but before the tears could fall she wiped them away with the back of her left hand. She brought her right hand to eye level and examined it, looking at her palm then back to the front of it.

Finding no scars, she sighed in relief and turned back to Cheza. "Thank you very much for helping me, I really appreciate it," Kagome spoke kindly with a smile.

Tilting her head to the side while closing her eyes, Cheza smiled. "This one is just glad that you are okay now."

Kagome nodded her head. "Yeah me too." Proceeding to untie the bandages, Kagome ripped off the herb with a slight wince, then seeing no scars or marks she then moved to untie the bandage on her arm. 'Last one!' she though, closing her eyes then ripping it off, bringing a few hairs from her arm along with it. She looked at it, and it was just like the others. No blood. No scars. Only a red mark from ripping off the herb from hell remained.

Pushing off the ground with her healed hands, Kagome stood, and then turned to Cheza. She held her hand out for the flower to grasp, which she did, and lifted her up, off the ground. Standing in front of Cheza, Kagome bowed in the traditional Japanese manner. "Thank you once again. I am in your debt."

Cheza smiled kindly. "This one has done its job, there is no need for you to repay this one."

Kagome looked up at her, still bowing, with a confused look on her face. "But I have too, well actually I want to so nothing you can say will change that. I mean what kind of a person...er...wolf would I be if I didn't do something to repay you?"

As Kagome began to stand straight up, the other pack members came to join them. "What do we do now?" asked Toboe. "Are we going to rest before we go or will we just keep going?"

Someone's stomach growled followed by a laugh. "I personally think we should eat, I am kinda hungry and by the smell of it, there's a town nearby with food" Hige announced, scratching his head.

Sticking his hands in his leather pockets, Tsume glared at Hige. "Always thinking with your stomach huh, Porky?" he murmured as Hige kept smiling, obviously not paying attention to him.

Another stomach growled and Kagome giggled. "Yeah I have to agree with Hige, I'm hungry too," she said, patting her stomach in emphasis.

"Well then lets go!" Hige yelled excitedly as he began to walk into the forest. Nothing would keep him away from the food even if rockets were being shot at him it wouldn't keep him away.

Kagome had to laugh at him because of his happy attitude towards food before her eyes moved to Toboe, whom she noticed was walking along beside Hige. She was about to follow him when she felt a figure pass by her and looked to see that it was Kiba. He was walking towards Cheza, not bothering to even look at her, only to stop in front of the flower maiden. "Come on Cheza lets go," said Kiba, weaving his fingers with hers. Cheza grasped his hand happily and they began walking into they forest, just the two of them, leaving an unnoticed Kagome behind. Kagome looked at them longingly, and then shook her head. 'We barely even know each other. He wouldn't have feelings so fast anyway.'

"Come on Kagome!" Toboe yelled at her from the forest, waving his hand at her. He looked so happy and it made Kagome think about how nice it was to have someone like him around. He was really open and sweet to her and she enjoyed his company very much. "Coming!" she called back to him hurriedly. He nodded his head and waited for her to catch up to him before they both left, replacing Kagome's thoughts with new ones.

An aggravated sigh escaped the grey wolf's lips before Tsume stuck his hands in his leather pockets and followed after them. 'What a nuisance.'

'How crowded was this town?' Kagome thought, making her way through the human-infested streets. How could so many people fit in such a small place? And why was she here in the first place? Keeping a steady pace, Kagome racked her brain for answers.

An imaginary light bulb lit up.

She was here for three reasons: The first was to get a new outfit that would be warmer than the one she was wearing. Another reason was to eat something. Which she would accomplish first. The last reason was to try and see if there were any signs of officers or people with guns around, maybe people looking for Cheza. Kiba had asked her to look since none of the people looking for Cheza knew she was in their pack now and it would be easier if she would be their own little spy. That is...until someone found out of course.

But then there was someone that knew she was a wolf but didn't know she was with the pack also.

That old man with the dog.

She could never forget them. Their faces were burned into her mind and would forever stay there even after she killed them. Weather it is today, tomorrow, next week, or in the near future, those images of them in her mind would not be the same ones she had at this very second. No. They would be twisted in pain, blood covering every inch of their bodies, just like what they did to her mother and Souta but worse. Oh yes it would be worse...

She gasped at the horrific thoughts. Was she really going to become a blood thirsty killer? Weren't all the demons she killed in the Feudal Era the same as killing a human and a dog? It was the same! It had to be! Both tried to kill her! Both deserved to die! Her head drooped. But then...she had never killed a human before...nor had she ever desired too...but why...why was she being so...so hesitant? It wasn't like she was of their species anymore even though she lived it all her life. Was it because of her human friends that made her so skeptical? Or maybe it is because she is a priestess? Or hopefully she still is since she had no idea about what happened to her power.

Had her family's death changed her from the nice, sweet, innocent Kagome she once was to a now hungry to kill Kagome? Her mother always taught her to forgive...but she couldn't forgive, not now. Wouldn't anyone in her position do the same thing?

Her eyes widened at her thoughts.

This was not like her at all. Could it be...is her hatred manifesting into something greater? She couldn't remember the last time she had hated someone with such passion that it actually scared her. Her bangs covered her eyes. Is this reaction caused by her animal instinct? But how would she know since she was not all too familiar with it? She was only a wolf for how many days now? Was it even worth it to kill?

The only certain thing she knew was that the ever caring, sweet, innocent, and nice Kagome was still there and would remain. The other new part of her would remain as well, but would not appear until the time came.

A smile found its way to Kagome's lips, but for a different reason. The scent of hot dogs had caught her nose and there was no way she would leave without eating a few.

Perched on top of a buildings' rooftop, Kagome sat, eating her stolen hot dog. This was the first fatty food she had, had in what seemed like years! And oh was she enjoying it very much! She took another bite of her fatty food while looking down at the oblivious people below. 'I wonder where Toboe and Hige are?' Her eyes narrowed and began searching the crowds for a few minutes before giving up. She, Hige, and Toboe were in the town while both Tsume and Kiba were protecting Cheza in the mountain not far from where she was.

They had no desire to come into town as Tsume put it and it would be safer if some of the pack went in rather than everyone coming and running a higher risk of being spotted.

Finding her way to her feet, Kagome brushed the dirt off her shorts before smoothing out her tank top that had ridden up above her belly button while she had been sitting.

'Now to get rid of there cloths.'

After finding a deserted alley that looked as safe as it would get, Kagome jumped off the rooftop and landed in a crouched position. Looking around, Kagome spotted the way back into the crowded streets and made her way towards it. It was so noisy and Kagome's ears started to hurt as she mentally winced. Many different kinds of scents hit her nose as she passed shops and stands full of food. There were also some foul smells that made Kagome cover her sensitive nose. She scanned the shops around her before stopping in front of a medium sized building.

'This must be it.'

Hige backed away from where he came from, carefully watching if anyone appeared. He clutched his stolen item to his chest, in hope that no one would find him. He sighed softly and stopped, glad no one had shown up. He yelped suddenly when something bumped against his back before turning around to see Toboe looking at him. Relief washed over him as he eyed Toboe and the furry thing in his arms. "What the heck is that?" Hige asked him, nodding towards the object.

Toboe lowered his head down to what Hige was looking at and turned to the side, realizing exactly what Hige's eyes were on. "I-It's a present for...for Cheza. I-in case she gets cold." Toboe held the jacket out for Hige to see.

Hige's eyebrow rose. "You really think she'll like that old antique?" he scoffed.

Toboe narrowed his eyes. "Yeah!" Then his eye caught something pink in Hige's arms. "H-Hey! What is that?" he asked curiously, pointing at it. Hige's arms tightened around the pink things as he lifted his head. "It's for Cheza...ya know. She can't walk around in bare feet the whole time."

Toboe pouted. "My present is still better compared to yours!"

Hige laughed. "Lets see which one she picks, then we'll know which one is better!" he challenged.

Kagome walked lazily out of the shop she was in, acting as cool as possible. She knew stealing wasn't right, but she needed new clothes for traveling. The only problem was, was that she didn't have any money. So when the cashier was talking to another customer, she quickly made her way out the door, clothes in hand along with some sneakers.

It was something she really needed and no one noticed anyway. Shrugging, Kagome tried not to look suspicious to anyone while holding the clothes and shoed at her side. She ran her free hand through her hair, raking out the knots in it. 'I really need a bath...and...and some Oden!'

Wolf or not, Kagome loved Oden almost as much as she loved a nice hot bath. Drifting off into a land away from the one she was born on, Kagome imagined being surrounded by bowls of oden for miles. Kagome licked her lips subconsciously, trying to remember the taste. Oh how she wished she could remember!

As she imagined she was on her sixth bowl of oden, a force suddenly hit Kagome from behind, shoving her forward abruptly and she tripped before she regained balance. Huffing she turned around to see what had almost caused her to fall.

She gasped and took a few steps back.

"I thought she would have been back by now. Do you think anything happened to her?" Toboe asked sadly. His sadness was not just from Kagome not being there but also because Cheza had chosen Hige's gift and not his. Tsume had said it looked like a dead anime and Toboe guessed that, that was the reason why Cheza didn't want his gift.

"Don't worry runt she will be back." Tsume told him carelessly as his back was leaning on the trunk of a tree, arms crossed in front of him. He had come with Toboe to wait for the female wolf to return and they had been at the same spot with Toboe complaining for about fifteen minutes already and he was starting to get frustrated.

Toboe dug his nails into the ground beneath him as he stared down into the crowds of people, trying to seek out Kagome. "Yeah I know but...something just doesn't feel right." His mind kept telling him that as well as the feeling in the pit of his stomach. No, something was not right.

Kagome was face to face with one of those soldiers Kiba was talking about. This one also had a gun and sunglasses that prevented her from seeing his eyes. On the top of his head was a helmet and he was wearing a protective suit as well that covered his whole body.

The soldier smiled down at her. "Sorry about...that." His smile was replaced with a frown. His next words were full of surprise and questioning. "Is that you...Higurashi Kagome?" The voice sounded very familiar now but Kagome couldn't place whom it belonged to.

She growled. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?" She could see his eyebrows rise over his sunglasses.

"It is you! Don't you remember me? It's me," then man placed his gun down and took off his helmet, showing now chestnut brown hair. It was Kagome's turn to look shocked as he took his sunglasses off. "Hojo." He finished and smiled down at her once again. Kagome brought her hand to her lips and gasped.

"Its so wonderful to see you again Higurashi! Are you feeling well these days? I know it's been a long ti-" he was cut off by a nose from his pocket. "Could you please hold on a minute Higurashi?" He reached into his pocket and revealed a walkie-talkie, then turned around to hear what they had to say to him now.

Kagome watched him curiously from behind and listened with her ears at what they were saying and gasped. The man on the other side of the walkie-talkie said, "We found them! Report back now!" and that could only have meant one thing. They had found the pack. That's all it took for her and she was gone in an instant...along with the gun Hojo had placed on the ground carelessly. How clueless could he be?

Putting the walkie-talkie away, Hojo turned around saying, "Kagome-chan I'm sorry but I have to..." He looked around curiously. Kagome had vanished, she was nowhere in site and Hojo looked down to get his gun, but found it missing also. "Higurashi!" Hojo called as he put his helmet and sunglasses back on. He began to run through the crowds looking for her until he saw no signs and went back to their base. 'Why would she take my gun? Hopefully she's alright.'

Jumping across building after building, Kagome ran as fast as she could. She had clothes and shoes in one hand while a gun lay in the other. 'Their going to kill them if I don't get there soon!' was Kagome's only thought. "I need to get there."

As she finally reached the end of the town, Kagome could see both Tsume and Toboe waiting for her beside some trees not too far away. She had to tell them so she started to scream. "Their coming! They know were here! We need to leave!"

Well sorry for the late chapter but stuff came up! Please review! I love 'em! And thank you to those of you who reviewed the seventh chapter!

-Note-

If you have any questions please e-mail me! I do not answer question that are asked in reviews!

Until next time!

Dark Paine


	9. Run

_"There is a Legend_

_that Speaks of Paradise on Earth…_

_But Only Wolves_

_Can Find It."_

**A Wolf's Cry**

**Chapter Nine- Run**

"What? What are you talking about? And whose 'they'?" Tsume asked as Kagome came to a stop in front of him and instantly haunched over, taking in large amounts of air. She had ran as fast as she could without stopping, wanting to get there as soon as she could.

Tsume placed his hands on her shoulders gently as to not hurt her. "What's wrong Kagome?" he asked her seriously.

Kagome's eye brows seemed to come together in a qestioning look before they turned into a shocked expresion that rose and met Tsume's worried features. Th-that was the first time he had ever called her by her name...was...was something wrong with him? Did someone hit him? Or maybe he fell and hit his head all by himself while she was gone?

The grey wolf waited patiently for Kagome's answer, all the while keeping eye contact. Why was she taking so long to answer him?

The female wolf released a long breath of air after mentally hitting herself and spoke. "Those people Kiba told me about" pant "that are after Cheza...they know we're here and they're comming!" She extended her hand, revealing the gun as her proof. His eyebrowes furrowed this time and there was a gasp and Kagome turned her gaze towards its source. It was Toboe.

"What is that?" Toboe asked curiously. He had recognized it from when the old man with the dog shot at him with something that looked just like that. Even though he knew what it looked like, he didnt know what it was called. The only thing he did know for sure was that it was dangerous and could kill even a wolf.

Before Kagome could answer him though, Tsume grabbed it out of her hands and snaped it in half as though it were a twig. He then proceeded to throw the two pieced into the woods with a grunt. Everyone fell silent.

"It's something I hope you have to never come in contact with again Toboe. No one as young as you should ever have to see something like that." Kagome answered him finally as she recalled the incident at her home. The fear she had experienced came back, but before it consumed her she mentally pushed it away.

Toboe looked at her curiously and somewhat disappointed that he hadn't gotten a straight answer out of her. He wasn't mad at her though, he knew she was right.

"We need to tell Kiba and the others and leave immediatly," Tsume stated calmly. he eyed both Toboe and Kagome before his golden eyes turned to the town. There was no one comming at the moment but who knew when they would. It would be better if they would never find them. "Lets go!" he barked before turning and running, Kagome and Toboe following close behinde.

!----!

The scent of flowers was calming and very enjoyable. It both calmed and excitied both the wolves at the same time. Cheza sat, petting both Kiba and Hige who were on either side of her as they waited for rest of the pack to return. It was like a heaven without any worries as the birds sang in the background, only to stop suddenly. The action caught Kiba's attention, bringing him back into realitly as he stood and looked up into the sky. Birds shot out of the trees squawking madly, startling Cheza as their forms covered the sky. Kiba placed himself in front of Cheza, blocking her from the approching scents. Three figures came into view and Kiba mentally and physically relaxed when he saw Tsume. Even though he was glad they were back, he didn't fail to notice the look on their faces which were not happy at all.

"Kiba!" Tsume bit out so he got the white wolf's attention as he stopped, Kagome and Toboe on either side of him. They changed into their humanoid forms before they told Kiba what was so important.

"K-Kiba, Kagome saw one of those bad smelling people that are after Cheza! We're going to leave right?" Toboe asked frantically. He knew it wouldn't be safe to stay here for long, someone could get hurt if they found them. He looked at Kiba and waited for him to answer. Without second thoughts Kiba agreed. "Come on Cheza," he said, grasping her hand and helped her onto his back.

"Well I guess vacation is over," Hige joked as he stretched his legs. "I'm ready, how about you?"

The pack all nodded and left silently into the woods.

!-----!

The bullets could be heard now as they kept running. "They found us already?!" Tsume growled out. "How could they have caught up with us so easily? How long has it been?!"

"Maybe they must have already known or something? But how could they?" Toboe asked, his head turned towards Tsume for an answer. As he ran he didn't pay attention to anything around him and for punishment he hit something hard, causing him to fall back onto the ground. "What did ya do that for?!" Toboe questioned loudly to no one in particular as he rubbed the back of his head. He blinked a few times before he noticed that the group had stopped and that they were in some circular place with no roof.

"The stench of human is **everywhere**!" said an irritated Hige as he sniffed the air. "We're surrounded!"

"Damnit!" Tsume growled. He had about enough of these annoying humans and he'd be damned if he were to die here.

Kagome asked worriedly, "What do we do? Which way do we go?"

Her questions were answered as Cheza gently got off Kiba's back and began walking in one specific direction. Everyone knew she had never been here, but why did she look like she knew where she was going like the back of her hand?

"This way," Cheza said, pointing to her right. Without hesitation Kiba Grabbed Cheza's hand and ran with her and the pack down the tunnel-like passage. The gun shots were still getting louder and both Hige and Tsume cursed Kiba for his decision. The scent of flowers must be getting to the white wolf.

Out of nowhere a man wearing a bullet proof vest with a machine gun shot at them. It was unexpected but Kiba manages to push Cheza aside, as his instincts come over him as he growled and ran at the man, sinking his fangs into his neck, killing him instantly. Without giving the fallen soldier a second glance, Kiba grabbed Cheza's hand once again and ran with the pack.

The group kept running until they reached another circular looking room. There was only one passage to get out but it was blocked by four gun man that had appeared, once again shooting at them. Both Cheza and Kagome were pushed behind a rock as Toboe, Hige, Tsume and Kiba went after the humans.

Kagome peeked over the rock just to see Tsume quickly dispose of one soldier. She looked towards Cheza and told her confidently, "If anything happens Cheza, I will protect you." This was her new responsibility and nothing else mattered. Keeping Cheza alive was the only thing that did. She remembered confidently what her old responsibility was. It was to complete the Shikon no Tama. As much as she missed that, she was glad that it was over.

When she looked over the rock once more she saw only the male wolves left. They had used their speed and fast dodging abilities to easily take down the interference so they might still be able to get away from the humans.

"Kagome come on! Hurry and get Cheza, We're leaving!" Hige announced as he wiped his hands on his sweatshirt. "Dirty humans..."

Kagome let go of Cheza and stood up. "Come on we have to go" Kagome said, holding out her hand to Cheza, who took it. They were about to head back to the others before Cheza stopped suddenly and looked in back of them, her eyes widened.

"What is it?" Kagome asked. She kept her eyes on Cheza trying to figure her out before she heard laughter. It wasn't laughter of happiness, but of a twisted kind of laughter. Her eyes trailed and fell on the object causing that horrid noise. It was another soldier that must have come out from hiding in a very tight spot. "Thought you could get away didn't you?" he said, obviously angry.

Kagome was literally frozen to the spot. What was she going to do? A red light shined in her eyes for a second before it suddenly disappeared. She blinked a few times trying to adjust them again. And then she say it.

The man had the gun in his head, ready and loaded. The red light was some kind of aiming device, but only this time the light wasnt on her.

"Cheza!" Kiba yelled from behind them ripping Kagomes eyes off of the man and glued them to Cheza. She immediately looked at her face and saw the red dot moving around on her forehead. He was going to shoot Cheza!

"Watch out Cheza!" Kagome screamed as she pushed the flower maiden out of the way just as he pulled the trigger. She landed on the ground with a thud but she would be alright. Kagome's head shot up to look at the man and she growled. She ran at him with full force and jumped. The female wolf came as close as a few inches away from the mans face before he hit her in the stomach with his gun. She fell to the ground painfully and the man laughed.

"I thought they said wolves were stronger than this! Ha! I guess they were wrong!" he bit out laughing, eyeing Kagome before turning to a cowering Cheza.

Kagome's body hurt but the fear for Cheza's life drove her to her feet. They shook uncontrollably but it wasn't as important as Cheza. 'No!' She saw Kiba trying to get to the man who was closing in on Cheza. _Don't kill her! You can't! _Her eyes turned pink as a howl erupted from her throat as she lunged at the man.

She tore her viciously into his exposed skin on his neck, waiting until she heard a bone crack before releasing him. She landed in front of Cheza, panting. The blood from the soldier dripped from her fangs. She watched him fall to his knees clutching his neck and screamed something about it burning and how hot it was. What was he talking about? Her eyes found their way to the wound and she surprisingly found it steaming. What surprised her more was that it was as if his skin was burning right off of his body. What was that? Did she do that?

Shaking her head she turned to Cheza. "Are you alright?" she asked. She was happy when Cheza nodded her head and smiled. "We should probably go," Kagome finished.

She and Cheza walked calmly back to the group as they passed Kiba who was only a few steps away from the others, glued to the spot. He was looking at Kagome, making the female blush prettily. "What?" she stuttered.

Kiba shook his head. "Nothing."

Kiba lead the group up a trail and killed a soldier before heading up the mountain.

!-----!

No one noticed the scientist Cher on the ground watching them in surprise. She had seen actually seen Cheza smiling for the first time since Cheza was born. "Follow them!" yelled the captain, brining her out of her stupor.

!-----!

The pack was faced with a dead end. Gigantic roots were blocking their way. "Where the hell do we go now? We can't go back or we'll get killed!" yelled Hige.

Cheza walked nonchalantly foward and placed her hands on the roots. They heard yelling and only glanced a second in back of them to make sure no one was there. They heard a voice, causing them to turn around. "This way" she pointed at the hole in the roots.

Hige looked at her questionably. "Where did that come from?"

Kagome headed in with Cheza. "Who cares lets go!" she yelled. The group could only follow.

!-----!

The soldier ran into the room where the wolves had just been, only to find a dead end and no wolves. "But i swear I saw them here" Cher said as she looked down at the object that was supposed to track Cheza. To her dismay all the signs that said Cheza was there disappeared. The Captain sighed, annoyed and picked up his walkie talkie. "You men come with me!" he said pointing at a few individuals. "The rest of you, search for them! I want Cheza alive!"

!-------!

Sorry for such a long wait and for the short chapter. I know its not one of my best but I had to put something out so you wont kill me. Anyway reviews are welcomed and greatly appreciated. If I have time I will fix this chapter!

-Dark Paine

Want me to update you when a new chapter is added to this chapter? E-mail me with your e-mail and that subject!


	10. Wish

_"There is a Legend_

_that Speaks of Paradise on Earth…_

_But Only Wolves_

_Can Find It."_

**A Wolf's Cry**

**Chapter Ten- Wish**

The brisk night twinkled with the stars, and Kagome couldn't help but think it was very beautiful. She had taken a rest and was looking up into the deep depths of the sky. This was another rare moment where she could see the stars, taking her breath away all at the same time. She inhaled the cold, crisp air, then released it silently.

The seasons were changing and Kagome had yet to change into more appropriate clothes. She still carried them, hoping the group would stop soon so she could change. She never asked if they could stop, afraid their reaction would be like InuYasha's outbursts.

"Come on Kagome!" she heard Toboe yell, bringing her out of her thoughts. She glanced down to see that they were some ways down the mountain.

"Comming!" she answered and started jumping down to secure edges of the cliff, that she had seen the others land on first. No need to have another accident like before.

They had come out of the tunnel Cheza somehow had created hours ago, and thankfully, there had been no signs of trouble since then.

Kagome slid down the cliff, catching up to the group, to walk in front of Cheza. Kiba and Tsume had the lead followed by Hige and then Toboe, leaving the Flower Maiden and Kagome to bring up the rear. The males of the group were a little further down than the females, but were still visable from where they were. Kagome glided around a corner easily and waited for Cheza to catch up, only to turn around and see that Cheza had kept walking until she was at the very edge.

"Cheza!" Kagome gasped and quickly tried to grab her, but noticed that she had stopped. One foot was placed on the edge while the other was out over the side. To her surprise, Cheza giggled and turned on her foot, to skip down the slope.

"It seems like she's on edge around us, I wonder why?" Toboe spoke as Cheza approched them.

"It's because your on edge around her." Came Kiba's voice from the front of the pack. "How else is she supposed to feel if you all aren't comfortable around her?"

There was a few moments of silence. Why were they all on edge around her? She was only a flower after all! What would she do? She wasnt a real threat, and she had proved that she did want to help them when she created that tunnel to safety. What was the big deal?

"I think it's a new experience. Your all used to just have the four of you around, not six. I think it will adjust in time and everyone will be comfortable with eachother," Kagome pointed out. Even though she was niave sometimes, she could even see this and she wasn't completley used to all the member in the pack, and she knew they were the same with her. With that said, Kagome jumped down onto another ledge and tried to spot a place where they could sleep. Her eyes were instantly drawn to a very wooded area not too far away from where they were. "Hey Guys! I just found a great place to sleep tonight," she yelled to the group, pointing to the said spot.

"At least your useful _somehow _girl," Tsume said under his breath, so no one could hear him.

But unfortunatly someone did, and she looked questionably at him for a moment before brushing it off. What was up his ass?

!-----!

It took all but a half hour to find a nice clearing in the forest where they could set up 'camp' if you wanted to call it that. It was very secluded, provided by the trees, and no human would even dare to go into it, afraid they might get lost. Although the humans feared it, the animal's felt right at home. For once, the wolves could be left in peace.

The group was still awake, all except for the young pup Toboe. He had fallen asleep the second he laid down. As for the others, Kagome and Cheza sat together, while the males sat across from them.

"How I would love a bath right now!" Kagome said, exasperated as she stretched her arms above her head, working out the kinks. "God knows I need one."

"You got that right girl, you smell horrible," Tsume stated a little too harshley, not even bothering to look up at her.

Kagome's face turned red from anger and embarressment. "How-how **dare** you! Why are you always so mean to me you ugly old man?!" she said, trying to keep a straight face after she realized what she had said. She looked at him and saw the anger in his eyes, realizing she had struck a cord in him.

"Ugly old man?! You stupid bitch! I am far from being an old man!" He bit out angrily. This girl was so frustrating! He just couldn't take it anymore! His gaze was fierce as he stood up, holding her eyes with his. "Once I get my hands on you-" he started to growl before he stopped himself, afraid to continue.

Kagome's head was bowed in submission, bangs sheilding her eyes, but Tsume could smell the faint scent of her tears. He had gone too far this time and it actually started to scare her.

The groups attention turned to Kagome, who was shaking, obviously trying to hold back her tears. "Is that what you really think I am Tsume? A** bitch**?" Her eyes rose and met his. Those same eyes that held happiness minutes ago, now threatened to release tears. She looked right at Tsume, searching for something. His breath caught in his throat as he watched emotions flitter in and out through her eyes. Hate...anger...sadness...surprise...and pain.

"**Is that what you really think I am Tsume**?!" Kagome repeated forcefully.

"I-" was all Tsume could manage to studder. A strange smile graced the female wolf's face.

"If you all didn't like me, why didn't you tell me so I could have left sooner?" she bit out, reaching down to collect her things. This was just like how it used to be with InuYasha, and she just couldn't take it anymore, his actions towards her, along with the stress wanted to make her explode.

Hige, dumbfounded by her reaction, stood up and approched Kagome. "Come on Kagome. You know he didn't mean it don't you? Right Tsume?" he glared at the grey wolf who said nothing. "We all don't want you to leave either!" His eyes pleaded with her to stay. Maybe Tsume didn't like her but Hige was sure as hell not going to let her go. It was nice having her around, and she was a female wolf, a species he handn't seen in a _long_ time.

Kagome watched Hige closely, trying to make sure he wasn't lieing just to make her happy. She searched his eyes and found that he wasn't, silently making her somewhat happy. She looked to Kiba and found his face expressionless, a pang of hurt went through her, but she did not let it show.

Unconciously gripping her things tighter, she sighed. "I'm going to leave for a bit, I wont be back until later tonight. Please don't follow me," her eyes were downcasted as she turned and walked away from the group to think. Even without the outburst she was have asked to leave, the sound of water wasn't far away.

!-----!

"Look what you did Tsume! Your going to make her leave because you just couldn't have kept you mouth shut! I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't come back witht he way you've been treating her," Hige snapped, eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "You know her family was killed ad she cries for them at night. She didn't deserve it Tsume." Tsume's eyes widened a fraction, mouth hanging open, trying to say something but found he couldn't. It was true, she did cry for her family at night and he knew it as well as the others. But none of them had a family, were they supposed to pitty her or something?

"None of us have families, what makes her so different?!" TSume snapped, not thinking about what he had said.

Silence hung through the air as Tsume watched Hige's eyes widen in hatred.

"None of us knew our families because they were killed when we were yourng or before we were born, so we didn't actually know them," the voice came into the conversation calmly, stopping Hige, who was about to attack Tsume. "To...have seen people you love killed seconds before you got home...it must have destroyed her inside...She probably wished she could have been there to stop it from happening...maybe even wishing she could have taken their places..." Kiba stood up, hands fisted at his sides. "And even after all the pain she went through...she is trying to help us get to paradise...a place she only found out about practically a few days ago...she even risked her life to save Cheza," his eyes strayed to the said Flower Maiden. "the only think griving her, the only thing keeping her alive is her want for revenge." Kiba's eyes closed as he tried to calm his feelings of irritation, saddness and rage. "No one should have to live like that."

!-----!

Silently peeling the clothes from her body, Kagome let each item drop carelessly to the ground before stepping into the softly flowing river. It was cold, something she was used to, and not really bothered by.

She wadded through the water until she was waist deep and started to clean herself as best as she could, since she had no tolitries. _He is so much like InuYasha and yet in some ways he's not._ Her thoughts strayed to the half demon before she shook her head.

_He is my past and I have to move on_, she thought almost sadly before she let her whole body sink under the water. She made sure she was all the way at the bottom, back laying against the floor when she looked up and saw the iridescent glow of the moons rays. _It's so beautiful from down here._ She closed her eyes and held her breath as she let her body relax in the water. _I wish..._

!-----!

"Kiba! Where are you going?!" yelled Hige as he looked off at Kiba's retreating form.

"She's been gone for a long time Hige, I'm going to check on her," the white wolf said calmly as he dissappeared into the woods, leaving Tsume, Hige and Cheza to wait for his, and hopefully Kagome's return.

!-----!

His steps were defined and steady as he made his way through the woods, following Kagome's scent. It was obviously leading away from the group, but, he noticed, he couldn't hear any noise or anything else for that matter. Her scent got stronger with every step he took, so he should have been able to hear her by now right? It was actually a little too quiet.

He picked up his pace as her scent was almost at its strongest. She **was** okay right? He pushed aside a bush as he finally reached a calmly running river. "Kagome?" he called softly as he searched for her form. His head turned in every direction their was the slightest chirp of a cricket or rustle of leaves.

This place was where her scent ended, so she had to be here. He walked over to a tree and peered behind it, placing one had on its rough bark to steady himself. His eyes searched everything when he caught sight of two sets of clothes. Why wasn't she here and why couldn't he see her if she was in the water? Surely she couldn't suicide?

He quickly turned around and almost tripped over a root from the tree before rushing over to the rivers edge. Eyes narrowing, he looked for anything that resembled her. "Kagome!?" he called, hoping he would hear an answer as he jogged into the water until he was knee deep. His head turned furiously from side to side, searching. "Kagome!?" he barked out, hands fisted at his sides.

An air bubble rose to the surface and popped, immediately drawing his attention. More air bubbles came up, one after the other. That's when he noticed. Her body was at the bottom, gasping for breath.

She would drown if he didn't' save her.

!-----!

_I wish..._

**_For the destruction of your friends?_**

Kagome blinked before she closed her eyes again. _Shut up that's not what I was going to say' she replied to 'herself'._

_**Ah, am I mistaken? Then it is the ones that have hurt you, you wish to punish?**_

_Yes._

The voice that she thought was her own took on a manly tone, one that was not pleasant, and sent goose bumps throughout her body. **_It will not matter who you punish...for everyone will be punished once I find you. I have seen what the future is for you and what you can do now...'_**The Voice trailed off for a moment.

_Who are you?! _Kagome screamed frantically in her head.

**_You will find out whin I come for you. And I will use you to open the gates to Paradise along with my Flower Maiden!' _**The voice boomed as an image of a golden eye flashed through her head with a loud shriek.

Kagome's eyes sprang open unseeingly as she tried to scream, but found she couldn't. The eye had almost paralyzed her with its intense gaze. It was so unreal...her eyes finally focused and she began to panic. Her throat was getting hot and she needed to breath. She needed to get to the surface but it looked so far away...

_Is this it? Am I going to die?_ She could hear a faint splash that was soon followed by an unnatural movement of the water. The next thing she knew, someone had grabbed a hold of her naked waist and was dragging her to the surface. _Who is this?_

When they breached the top, Kagome gasped in a large breath of air as he rested her head on her saviors shoulder. This person...seemed so familiar...but she couldn't remember for some reason who it was. After a few more intakes of air, Kagome looked into the eyes of her savior and became ridged the second she saw that color.

They were golden eyes and Kagome screamed.

!-----!

Sorry for the long update but I hope it was worth the wait. Tell me what you thought with a review please! I love them!

Thank you all so much to those of you who reviewd the last chapter! I can't believe I have over 200 reviews on both and !

If you want me to tell you when I update just e-mail me with the subject being 'A Wolf's Cry' I might look over it on accident.. v.v

Question: How do I get words on and to be italicized and bold? Please if you know, make it somewhat thorough because I can get confused easily XD! Thank you!

Want to know how updating and chapters are comming along? Look at my xanga or live journal! (Links are in profile)

Thank you all once again!

Dark Paine

Review Questions:

Selver Phoenix7: Will everyone Die?? You'll just have to wait and see....

Every Bishounen's True Love: Sorry I couldn't update you, you didnt give me your full e-mail


	11. Rescue

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth…

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Eleven-Rescue**

"Kagome! Kagome what's wrong?" Kiba asked desperately as he held her. She was thrashing in his grasp, screaming for him to let go of her. What the hell had gotten her frightened of him?

"What's wrong?" he asked again, tightening his arms around her; regretting his actions when she flinched away. "It's me, Kiba," he stated calmly, gently grabbing her chin to look at him.

The feel of a gentle touch wiping away a tear brought Kagome out of her haze, bringing her screams to a stop. Slowly opening her puffy red eyes, she looked at just _who_ was holding her.

Burying her face in Kiba's chest she managed to whimper out, "K-Kiba?"

"Yes?" came his gentle reply.

"It really is y-you," the female wolf said between hiccups as she leaned her head back to look at him.

Letting his grip loosen slightly, but not enough for her to escape, he gazed into her eyes and saw the frightened look she gave him. "What happened?"

She released a sigh and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head in the juncture where his neck and shoulder met. "It was a golden eye," she said, taking in the scent of Kiba once again to try and comfort her. He smelt of forest and of Cheza, which oddly frustrated her.

She knew she shouldn't be jealous; Cheza was just a flower after all, but it seemed that the flower maiden was getting all the attention from Kiba. Kagome sighed. _What's wrong with me?_ This jealousy was getting ridiculous; Cheza was the key to getting to paradise, not she. Her eyes closed as she let her body relax in his embrace.

"Everything is going to be okay now," Kiba whispered against her ear before heading back to shore. As he set her down, he grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her shivering form. It was getting late and soon the temperature would fall.

He watched her teeth start to chatter as she said a quick 'thank you' and brought the towel closer to her form. His lips spread into a small grin as he maneuvered himself so that he was sitting down, back against a tree with Kagome situated between his legs. He slowly brought his arms around her shoulders, pulling her gently back against his chest. He chuckled when she let out a small shriek, obviously not knowing what he was going to do, or that he was probably behind her even.

"Just relax," he whispered huskily in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. She looked up at him and studied his face. His eyes were closed as he was resting calmly. There was only one word to describe him. Beautiful. From far away he looked absolutely handsome, but when someone was this close, he looked like a god.

"You know, with all that staring, you could probably have fallen asleep by now."

She jumped slightly at his voice. He looked so calm and peaceful; Kagome figured he had already fallen asleep. She blushed prettily when he cracked open an eye to gaze down at her.

"Sorry…" she whispered gently back, looking away. He smiled down at her, catching the faint redness in her cheeks before closing his eyes once again and relaxed against the tree.

Kagome let out a sigh of contempt. She just had to go and blush like a total idiot the minute he looked at her. Grr.. Why did **Kiba**, of all people, have to come and save her? Why couldn't Toboe or even Hige come? Why didn't he stay and watch over Cheza? A low rumble emitted from Kiba's chest suddenly. Oddly enough it calmed her and she released the tension in her body that she had building up. She pondered her thoughts and gazed up into the night sky.

A smile found its way to Kagome's lips as realization hit her. Kiba must have feelings for her somehow or he wouldn't have rescued her and probably wouldn't even be holding her as gently as he was right now and at the same time, keeping her safe.

Maybe there was a speck of hope. Even if it was a just little.

-----

"What's taking them so long?" Toboe asked worriedly, "Maybe I should-"

"No. They will come back once Kiba and Kagome are ready. If they aren't back before morning then we will go looking for them," Tsume said briskly, cutting Toboe off.

The rusted colored wolf's eyes blinked a few times. "Are you sure Tsume?"

Tsume didn't turn towards him but rather sat down near the fire. "I don't think anything will happen to Kagome if Kiba is there with her."

Toboe's gaze fell to the ground as his hands fisted. "But what if he hasn't found her?" What if a bear or something ate her? Or maybe more of those soldiers found her and shot her? If anything happened to Kagome, he swore to himself he would rip Tsume's ears off…

…Or at least try to.

He turned to Tsume and was met with an icy glare. "It's been three hours since Kiba left runt, so I think he was able to find her. Why do you miss her so much anyway? She your girlfriend?"

The blunt statement made Toboe blush. "N-no. I'm just looking out for my friend safety is all!"

The gray wolf raised an eyebrow. "So acting like her over protective mate is 'looking out for your _friends_ safety' is all?" There was a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

The young wolf growled, "Well why aren't you worried about her? You're the one who practically scared her off!"

A deep growl came from the other wolf. "Why you!"

"Would you both shut up, I'm trying to get some sleep!" yawned Hige as he rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. His eyes darted from one wolf to the other before searching the campgrounds for the other pack mates that had left shortly before he had fallen asleep. "Hey, where are Kiba and Kagome?" he asked, fully awake and looking at the two growling wolves that looked like they would kill each other.

"They left a few hours ago and still aren't back," growled Tsume, not looking at Hige but rather keeping the staring contest going with Toboe.

"Well don't you think we should go looking for them?"

"**No!"** they both shouted at once, causing Hige to jump.

"Damn, you didn't have to yell! And can you both be quiet, someone might hear you!"

His answer was met with a beautiful humming sound that was slowly making him drowsy.

"What the…" his eyes fell on Cheza as she was basking in the moonlight, humming a very pleasant tune.

"This one will help you sleep," she said happily before continuing to hum. The growls seemed to quiet down every few seconds until all the wolves fell asleep once again.

-----

**Ok I have fixed a few things I didn't like in this chapter and hopefully it is better! Also I co-own a Hentai Fanfiction site called Lemon Drops. You can find it here:**

**http/ cgi. morbidmoonhime .net/ lemon (just delete the spaces) We also accept fanfiction that does not have Lemons in it so feel free to join and spread the news!**

**Dark Paine**


	12. Discovery

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth…

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Twelve- Discovery**

The gentle sway of the grass tickled Kiba's fur lightly as he lay on the ground. He and Kagome had roused maybe an hour ago and while she went off into the woods, Kiba rested, stretching his limbs out as he listened to the singing of the birds. Their melodies were quite soothing Kiba thought idly.

Opening his eyes he noticed the sun was about to rise and Kiba knew he and Kagome would return to the others soon. They were probably starting to worry about them, especially Toboe. He knew there was some sort of bond between the female and the wolf pup when they had met.

Straying away from his thoughts he focused on a bird that had landed not far from him. It hopped around, its head turning about, looking for danger and most likely watching if Kiba would move. It was a blue jay that chirped lightly before flying over to the water to bathe. Sighing softly he sat up, crossing his legs before rolling his head until he felt the familiar pop in his neck.

He stared off into the woods, deep in thought. He wondered what he would do when he got to paradise. He wondered if everyone would be there to meet him. He wondered if-

The sudden flapping of the bathing bird caught his attention. He watched in silence as it flew away before he turned his gaze in the direction of a familiar voice.

Kagome stood a few feet away from him, smiling. She was wearing a dark blue sweater with blue jeans and a fluffy black coat that went past her butt. "Hi," Kagome said, happily walking over to him.

He looked her over twice before standing, "Shall we go?"

With a curt nod from the female they both headed off to the others.

* * *

A figure groaned softly in the dark room before opening its eyes. "Where…am I?" The young women, Cher said to herself. She slowly stood up blinking her eyes repeatedly. She felt a little queasy and her head was throbbing. All she could remember was walking in the Graveyard of Lord Darcia before seeing a golden eye…that belonged to…

"Lord Darcia?" she asked helplessly into the pitch-black room. She held her hands out in front of her as she slowly took steps forward. Hopefully she wouldn't hit into anything she thought before her hands found a cold wall. If she could just find a light switch she would have one less thing to worry about.

The opening and closing of a door made her stand dead still. "L-Lord Darcia?" she called out shakily again. She pressed her whole body up against the wall, trying to control her erratic breathing. If she didn't make much sound, whatever came into the room might not find her.

"I see you're awake," came a deep voice Cher -regrettably- recognized. Candles suddenly lighted up the room and Cher could see the outline of Lord Darcia getting closer until he was right in front of her.

"Lord Darcia, why am I here?" she asked, not looking into his eyes, afraid of what she might see.

He glared at her for a moment before turning to walk over to the other side of the room and pressed a button. A screen opened to reveal the night sky with the moon shining brightly in the middle.

"Are you not the scientist that was assigned to study Cheza?" he asked, turning to look at her. His gaze made her want to shrivel up and die.

"…Yes, but what does that have to do with me being here?"

His gaze went to the full moon in the deepening sky. "Lord Oakum took Cheza away from me just to show his power. I am guessing you are the scientist he put in charge of her research." He paused for a moment, his expression unemotional. "What have you found out about Cheza?"

Cher sighed. "The only thing we know about her is that she was made from Lunar Flowers and she reacts to wolves blood…at least that was what we were told…but wolves have been extinct for hundreds of years and yet she somehow awoke one day…" she trailed off, not knowing what else to say, but she was telling the truth. The day Cheza had arrived at the lab, one of the guards had to them exactly what she told Darcia.

Coming out of her thoughts, she looked up and found Darcia staring at her and immediately stiffened. "Yes, Cheza does react to wolves blood, she is a flower maiden and has a link between them and herself. If a wolf feels pain, she feels it also. I know this because _**I **_created Cheza," when he said this he pushed another button and suddenly a picture of Cheza and the data recorded about her appeared in the window.

"This…is all the information from start to end that I have recorded about Cheza. It surpasses the information you and your staff have found about her," Cher winced as he bit out the last part before her eyes locked on the information, trying to read everything as fast as she could before it disappeared.

She reached out with a hand to touch the screen and yet another picture of Cheza appeared. The scientist had to admit that Cheza was a very pretty girl, aside from all of her uncommon features such as her pink hair and red eyes. As she studied the picture, Cher wondered how such a beautiful creature like Cheza could be made from Lunar Flowers.

Darcia watched the scientist as she read all the information she could before in scrolled away and decided to walk over and stand next to her. Soon the picture and all the information disappeared and they both stood, once again gazing up into the moon.

"When I lost Cheza for the second time, I sensed another, more powerful presence that felt very old but had pure energy, that like of Cheza's but in a way…not," he paused for another time before he continued. "After I escaped the crash and came back here I looked in my families books to see if anything such as this had happened to one of them. I looked for days and nothing came up. I was plagued, thinking of what it could be...until I found it in a book, written hundreds of generations before myself."

At this, Cher looked at him strangely. "One of my ancestors came across the same energy. It was that of a Lunar Wolf, he later described. As you can tell by the name, it is a mix of a Lunar Flower and a wolf that possesses strong powers. How this came to be is still unknown. Many of them roamed the earth maybe a thousand years ago, but became extinct because of constant poaching and peoples need for power. My ancestor also wrote, because of his constant observing, that the more powerful blood runs deeper in the females than the males. He guessed the reason for this is because the females needed to protect themselves as much as they needed to protect their young without any trouble," he said, staring down at Cher. "But the most surprising tale that I've heard is that if a Lunar Wolf and Lunar Flower like Cheza come together, they can open the gates to an everlasting Paradise or a Noble's Paradise that would never go away and give us everlasting life."

Cher gasped, remembering the **Book of The Moon**. "Noble's Paradise?"

Darcia's gaze rose to the moon again. "Yes, a place unlike this barren wasteland, for nobles of power. I must find Cheza and that energy again before its too late."

What she had come to find out confused Cher to a point where she just wanted to scream. First Lunar flowers and now Lunar wolves? A Noble's Paradise? Lord Darcia sounded insane. Who could have this power? Her thoughts ran to the group that now had Cheza. They were all men except…for…

Her eyes widened in realization. She had forgotten that there was another girl in the group, someone she had never seen before. So that meant…

'I have to find her before Darcia does,' she thought with a new determination.

Her thoughts were interrupted though, when Darcia spoke again. "The life of a lunar wolf, is very long, but the life of a flower is very brief." The female scientists eyes narrowed at him. "Lunar flowers are no exception. Moonlight will give her strength to survive for now, however, basking in the moon for only a few more times, Cheza's life will come to an end."

* * *

**DONE! Mwahaha. Not a very long chapter but hey, best I could do for now ) Hopefully the next upcoming chapters are longer. Please review! Also I co-own a Hentai Fanfiction site called "Lemon Drops" its link is in my profile and is my homepage. If you want to know about chapter progress for this story or want to hear about anime news, visit my xanga site, which is also in my profile for (In my ffnet account, I'll put it in today too). Thank you to the reviewers on ffnet for over 300 reviews! I am so happy kiss you all! And thanks mediaminer for 280! I love you all too!**

**Until next time!**

**Dark Paine**


	13. Meeting

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth…

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Thirteen- Meeting**

It's funny how you could forget about all your worries and fears just by being with someone you barley knew. Even if it was just one night in his arms. Everything had become peaceful and Kagome felt that nothing could hurt her. She didn't dream of the time she saw the bodies of her mother and brother, and she didn't dream of the golden eye, which surprised her. She dreamt of nothing.

Stretching her arms above her head, Kagome breathed in the scent of pine and flowers. You would think it would make a bad combination, and yet oddly enough Kagome enjoyed it. She smiled as a sudden fill of energy sprang up within her being. She had not felt like this in the longest time, and in the back of her mind, wished nothing had ever happen. She wished her mother and brother were never murdered, wished that none of the destruction that happened in Japan never occurred…a part of her even wished she never fell through the well three years ago. If she hadn't, she would have been with her family and could have possibly helped protect them.

She would have never met _him_ either.

But those thoughts were in the back of her mind. For today…just today she would let herself forget the destruction of her past and allow herself to be how she used to be with her friends.

"Kagome."

She turned and looked at Kiba who had stopped. "Yes?" she asked.

Instead of looking at her he stared off into the forest ahead of them. "We only have a few more minutes until we reach camp, are you ready to go back?" he questioned softly before he looked down at her. Immediately her gaze dropped to the ground in front of her. His intense stare made her remember _him _again.

Her eyes narrowed. She needed to remember that Kiba wasn't anything like _him_ and would never be anything like _him_. They were totally different people and Kagome knew first hand what if felt to be compared to someone else.

Meeting his gaze she smiled and nodded her head. "I'm ready whenever you are." Not needing to hear anything else they began to walk again.

The two didn't really speak to each other much on the walk, just enjoying the peace and quiet while it lasted. Kagome imagined that this would be one of the few times she could relax. She sighed lightly to herself; it was the same now as it was then. She should have known her life would be like this.

Not paying attention to her surroundings, Kagome stumbled over a rock and would have fallen if it had not been for Kiba's strong grip on her arm.

"Are you alright?" he asked her once she was steady.

"Yeah, I'm okay" she answered, "I was just thinking and I guess I wasn't paying atten-"

A large force hit her, instantly knocking the air right out of her lungs as she hit the ground. She felt a cool wetness touch her face. Someone had licked her and was now panting in her face!

She opened her eyes and saw a rusted colored fur ball on top of her. It even talked.

"Kagome! Your okay! I was so worried, I though a bear ate you!"

'Oh Toboe.'

"I'm so glad I found you!" he said happily, nuzzling her neck. He rested his full weight on her and she was finding it hard to keep breathing.

"Thanks Toboe, but could you please get off of me?" Her prayers were answered as Tsume lifted Toboe off of her.

"You really shouldn't act like she is you mate, its almost disgusting," the silver haired man spoke sarcastically.

Toboe's face turned into an angry pout. "I wasn't! I was only checking to see if she was okay. She and Kiba didn't come back at all last night…I was worried."

With the help of Hige, Kagome stood up and looked at Toboe smiling. "I'm sorry to have worried you Toboe, I'll try not to do it again," Kagome said, patting Toboe's head lightly.

"You promise you'll try?" questioned the pup innocently.

"I promise."

Stepping away from Toboe, Kagome looked in Cheza's direction. The flower maiden was smiling at her, which Kagome returned. Seeing Cheza, Kagome felt a little unknown weight lift off her chest.

"This one is happy you are doing fine also."

Kagome had wanted to reply but her attention was ripped away to focus on the hands touching her body. "Hige!" she screamed, slapping him across the face. "What are you doing!" The female's face was turning beat red out of anger and embarrassment. He was just as bad as Miroku!

"I was only checking to see if you body had gotten any scratches or marks," replied Hige innocently, hand rubbing his cheek. She had hit him harder than he expected and it stung like hell.

"Well you could have just asked me!" she growled. The tension in the group grew as they watched the scene play out.

"Hige, you'll think of any excuse to touch a women!" Toboe said angrily at him.

Letting the pups words go in one ear and out the other, he turned to Kiba…who was strangely glaring at him. The collared wolf suddenly turned a little nervous under Kiba's gaze. "Hehehe…which way do we go now Kiba?"

The group had turned silent once again and everyone stared at the two.

"We are going to keep heading north." The reply came low and deadly and Kagome was thankful it wasn't directed at her. She might have had nightmares if it was.

Hige took this as his warning and silently hoped he wouldn't touch Kagome again…well at least not in front of Kiba that is.

Without notice Kiba turned and started to walk, taking Cheza's hand in his own. Toboe stuck his tongue out at Hige as he and Kagome passed him to follow the white wolf and the flower.

Feeling something hard hit his head, Hige cried out in pain. "Oww! What the hell was that for!" He grabbed his throbbing head in pain, trying to make it stop.

"You idiot, Kiba could have just killed you! I'm ashamed you call yourself a wolf. Don't you ever think before you act?" Tsume barked at him.

"It's not like she's claimed or anything!" Hige answered quickly.

"Do you actually think I care about that?" Tsume made sure he emphasized 'care' darkly. He let out a rough sigh. "Forget it, lets just go before we lost their scent."

'Dammit, what have I gotten myself into?' thought the gray wolf before stalking away, not caring if Hige followed or not.

* * *

Traveling by foot was somewhat peaceful. Kagome and Toboe made light conversation about their surroundings and some things they both liked. It didn't take much time at all to come to the outskirts of a village that looked busy and somewhat decent.

The group stood where they were, surveying the surroundings and looking for danger.

"There doesn't look to be any thread but don't be so surprised if you see a few soldiers walking about," Kiba informed before turning to look at the flower maiden. "Cheza and I will be by the stream not far from here. We'll be staying there tonight." Not needing to hear anyone agree, he turned to leave with Cheza. The group watched them until they disappeared in the forest.

"Well I don't know what everyone else is doing, but I'm going to go and check out the town!" Kagome announced to everyone. "I'll be back after dark probably so don't worry about me." She smiled down at Toboe and patted him on the head. "Stay out of trouble okay?" He nodded before Kagome set off down the tree-infested hill towards the village.

The three males left standing there headed in their own direction.

* * *

Kagome arrived at the village entrance maybe a half an hour after she left the males to do what they wanted. All Kagome knew she wanted was some oden and water. It felt like she hadn't eaten in forever, but it didn't really feel like she needed to eat either though. What she did know though was that she was following her nose toward that lovely smell of oden.

She dug her hands around in her pickets and found a couple of dollars she didn't know she had. Her nose lead her to the steps of a small restaurant. Heading up the three steps, she pushed open the door and let all the delicious scents absorb into every fiber of her being. She knew this could be the last time she would ever have the luxury of having something so tasty as oden.

Kagome found herself at the ordering desk within moments and asked if they had oden. She all but screamed with happiness when she found they did have some. With the money she found in her pocket, she bought two bowls full of her favorite food.

Quickly moving to a table, she sat down and almost drowned in the smell of her lunch and probably dinner. Grabbing her chopsticks, she took her first bite.

The food tasted so good she almost cried.

Although a lot of things changed for Kagome, her love for oden did not.

* * *

The female wolf now found herself looking sadly down at two empty bowls. Even though she was stuffed she felt like she wanted to cry. She had tried to take her time eating, she really did, but she just couldn't do it. After the first couple of bites, she practically inhaled it.

Looking down at the bowls one last time, she stood up and straightened her clothes out before leaving. Once outside, she sighed as she looked at the sky. By the time she would get up the hill, the sun will have almost set.

'I'm not sure I want to go back just yet.' She felt her feet walking and decided that she would go somewhere in the woods before she would go back to the others.

Kagome found she wanted a little more time to herself and to relax alone before she and the others needed to be on their feel again, following Kiba. She briefly wondered if Paradise was real. Could there be only a place that existed with wolves and no humans? It almost seemed unheard of. This task…it almost seemed like they were wasting their time but…many thoughts came rushing to her head but she ignored them and sadly remembered that she had nowhere else to go. Plus she had already grown somewhat attached to the group so she couldn't leave them.

Kagome made it up the hill just as the sun was setting which was her prediction. She headed off in no particular direction. She didn't need to be back at a certain time so she didn't really feel like she was going to get in trouble.

She kept walking through the forest until she came to a stream. She figured the rest of the group was up stream since she couldn't smell any other source of water around the area.

Quietly sitting down on the floor Indian style, Kagome let the tension in her body and her aching muscles relax. A firefly landed on her leg, catching her attention. She studied it, watching the light from the small insect go on then off before it flew away.

Letting herself fall to the ground to lie on her back, she stretched her legs out in front of her. The soft flow of the water relaxed her as she closed her eyes. The forest was relatively quiet aside from the crickets. Their songs were also somewhat calming.

A rather large twig snapped and Kagome leapt to her feet. Her heart was pounding in her chest, a little forest animal couldn't have made that large of a sound and Kagome expected the worst to happen. Her eyes searched desperately for where the sound came from. She caught some movement out of the corner of her eye from behind a tree and watched as a lone figure came out from behind it.

"Kagome-chan?"

Instantly Kagome's threatening demeanor turned to shock. She recognized that voice. It was…

"Hojo? What are you doing out here?" she managed to get out. He wasn't wearing that weird uniform like the last time they had run into each other. He was now wearing a rather nice coat with long dark pants.

"I saw you coming out of a restaurant and decided to follow you so maybe we could talk since the last time we didn't get a chance to." He looked innocently at her and he walked towards her.

If her heart rate could have possibly sped up more, it did. Kagome was consumed with fear, she knew she could possibly hurt Hojo, or worse, kill him. With every step he took her mind flashed with sickening thoughts of her attacking him.

"There's nothing to talk about" she said quickly, taking a step back every time he advanced.

"But Kagome, we haven't seen each other in a while." He held his hand out and it would have touched her shoulder if she didn't have moved.

"Don't touch me," she said threateningly, hoping he would get the message and listen.

To her horror he didn't and she closed her eyes as she braced herself. "Kagome I-"

"**Don't touch me!**"

Time seemed to stop in that instant and Kagome opened her eyes to look at Hojo's saddened face. She turned her head away from his direction and strangely noticed that there were many fireflies out. The light emitting from them was captivating.

Reluctantly, she turned back towards Hojo who was still staring sadly at her.

Before she could say something, a large, snarling white blur dropped from the sky in front of Kagome and landed on Hojo's chest. Kagome's eyes widened when it finally registered that it was Kiba on Hojo and it looked like he was going to eat him alive.

She looked to see Hojo almost traumatized as he tried to get the white wolf off of him, but he wouldn't budge. She watched in morbid fascination, as spots of blood appeared where Kiba was digging his nails into Hojo's chest.

Kagome shook her head violently. "Stop! Don't hurt him! Please!" She screamed, tears coming to her eyes. "Please…don't kill him," the tears started to flood down her face as she dropped to her hands and knees, squeezing her eyes shut. Minutes that seemed like hours passed for Kagome until the growling stopped and she looked up to find Kiba standing in front of her looking down at her.

Using his head, Kiba nudged her to stand up gently. Her gaze immediately went to Hojo and found him looking at her. She couldn't imagine how scared he must have been. She noticed the frightened look in his eyes before Kiba started to insistently push her away from Hojo with his head. She kept looking in his direction even after he disappeared from sight.

The last thing Hojo remember seeing before he passed out, was a white wolf pushing a reluctant black wolf out of view with Kagome nowhere in sight.

* * *

OOO Another chapter ) and this one is actually pretty long in my opinion. Sorry for the long wait, I haven't really had the time or energy to write this chapter but here it is. Enjoy and please review

Dark Paine


	14. Confession

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth…

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Fourteen- Confession**

She was standing at arms length away from him, unmoving. It felt like it took forever to get to where ever they were now. They had traveled deep into the wooded forest and it was almost pitch black, but the little lightning bugs that were everywhere provided some light. It was also far enough away from Hojo so that if someone screamed at the top of his or her lungs, he wouldn't be able to hear it.

Kiba wore an aggravated look and Kagome knew he was contemplating on what to ask her. No doubt he would ask about Hojo… He did have a right to though, since he was practically the pack leader.

She didn't flinch when Kiba finally gave her his full attention.

"What were you thinking?" he asked, "He could have **killed** you!"

A thick cloud of tension settled upon them, almost chokingly. Swallowing the lump in her throat she narrowed her eyes, giving him a stern look. "He would never try to kill _me_ for your information!" Her hands fisted.

Kiba's face turned to an angry yet shocked expression at her statement. "And just how do you know?"

"Because I knew him in High School!" Kagome was getting more frustrated with every question he asked and also found herself rising in volume.

"High School? I've never heard of this 'High School' but you haven't been to this 'High School' in a while now, so how do you know he hasn't changed?" Kiba barked out. He never though Kagome to make an idiotic decision, but now he would have to think twice.

"Because…" her voice trailed off.

Placing an iron like grip on her shoulders, Kiba shook his head before turning his burning eyes back on Kagome. "That's right, you don't know! Did you notice he reeked of blood and gunpowder? Or were you just too busy catching up on old times with each other to notice?"

Kagome gasped, her eyes widening.

Hojo…the sweet, kind boy that used to ask her out on dates, who couldn't hurt a fly more importantly, had the scent of blood on him? That would have been ridiculous to think that of him back then…but he _was_ a soldier now and…he could have…

Tears started to well up in her eyes' as Kagome's vision got blurry. She hiccupped and was suddenly pulled into an embrace, strong arms wrapping around her. Kiba sighed as he kept one arm around Kagome's back while the other traveled up to tangle in her hair.

"People change Kagome. And with the scent that he reeked, he was a soldier. Soldiers that reek of as much blood as he did are most likely in the organization that are after wolves and that includes you, me and ever Toboe."

He heard her gasp again but at the sound of Toboe's name and held her to him more closely, if that were even possible.

"Do you really think he would have thought twice about killing you if you weren't hidden behind your disguise? Do you even think he would have recognized you if you weren't? All I know is that at the moment you can only trust the pack that you travel with and not anyone or anything else. You could have been seriously injured today and we don't want something like this to happen again…so please just listen to me."

Softly pulling back away from her he looked into her eyes. When he saw the tears that were streaming down her face, he brought his thumb up to wipe them away.

Kagome's heart was beating rapidly in her chest. She had never been this close to Kiba since the incident she had almost died on the cliff. Her fingers itched to hold him to her but she somehow refrained.

Their gazes were transfixed with one another's and they didn't move and inch. Savoring the quiet moment they shared between just the two of them.

Pulling her against his chest again, Kiba held her tightly before whispering in her ear, "I will protect you Kagome."

She swore she could have died in that instant with happiness.

Ever so slowly she brought her hands up around his back and hugged him back tightly before letting herself cry into his chest. At that moment she realized that even though he would risk his life for Cheza, he would also do it for her. It meant that he did hold her dear to his heart.

And by god did she wish it were true.

They stood there, enjoying the intimacy before their embrace was broken as Kiba stepped away from her. She looked questioningly at his back and almost jumped when Tsume came out of nowhere, landing in a crouch before them.

"I though I'd check up on you two love birds and tell you we should be leaving soon. We don't know when those humans will be back," said Tsume, standing up while crossing his arms over his chest, waiting for Kiba to answer.

"We'll leave at dawn," said the white wolf, emotionlessly before turning to Kagome, "Come on lets go."

And with that the three turned and disappeared into the forest.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait and for the short chapter. Finals are coming up this week so its study, study, study time! And this chapter needed to be put in before more action begins! Oh I can't wait myself. I think this story wont be done for quite a few more chapters so don't worry if you thought it was ending soon.

Please tell me what you thought! Any questions or comments, leave it in a review since I can reply to them, or just e-mail me.


	15. Blue

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth…

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Fifteen- Blue**

'I will protect you.'

Those four words echoed around her head endlessly, over and over again. The words were strangely familiar to Kagome and they brought a sense of security and warmth into her being.

'Kagome…' came the voice again.

'Kiba?'

'I will' it sounded like Kiba's voice but what it changed into almost scared her, 'protect you…'

An image flashed in front of her. 'InuYasha?' Her voice was desperately pleading and the image came back again.

'I will protect you Kagome.'

"InuYasha!" The name was half yelled and it startled Kagome out of her slumber.

As she tried to slow down her breathing, she ran a hand against her forehead and grimaced when she felt the stickiness of her sweat. Wiping her hands on her pants she sat up and looked around.

She hadn't woken anyone up from what she could tell, and she was thankful. The last thing she wanted to do was explain who InuYasha was at the moment.

Smiling bitterly, Kagome dropped her head into her awaiting hands. Had she really forgotten that _he _had also made that promise to her? "Why cant I just forget about you already?" She could feel the tears burning to be released but she did not let them fall.

He had meant **everything** to her and yet…she was once again selfless and let him go. Being selfless was what she did best, wasn't it? Always have other people's feelings before hers.

Why couldn't she have been selfish for once and told him that she wanted **them** to stay together?

Because…because…"It wouldn't have been right." She squeezed her eyes shut and massaged her temple. 'He and Kikyo were meant for each other, living or dead.'

She knew deep down that she couldn't have changed anything even if she had tried. They were destined to stay together no matter what. At times she even wished to be in Kikyo's place or even for Kikyo's death. She had only thought of it once and had mentally beaten herself up about it since she knew she wasn't that kind of a person. Nor did she wish to become that kind of a person.

'I'm going to get passed this one way or another. I can't always be thinking about InuYasha. Besides, I have a new group I travel with, with new people to share these experiences with. Her gaze ran over the figures of her four other companions that she wished to never forget like the last group she traveled with. Cheza, Hige, Toboe, Tsume and Kiba looked out and cared for her. They were finding their own spots in her heart that was also shared with her old companions. They all were dear to her heart.

Laying back down back down, Kagome curled into a ball and let herself drift off into her own little dream world.

* * *

It was midday and the group had already been walking for a few hours. The first thing she had woken up to was Toboe standing over her asking if she was alright and what had happened that previous night. She had answered him whole-heartedly and told him a little white lie about why she was away for so long. For the rest of the time, the group was silent. Everyone was always on their toes if any danger cam out of nowhere.

Both Kiba and Cheza were at the head of the group, followed by Tsume and Hige, leaving Toboe and Kagome to bring up the rear. The boy was always by her when they moved around and Kagome had to admit she sort of enjoyed it; it had been a long time since Shippou and she were together.

"Hey Kagome?" brought her out of her thoughts and she now gave Toboe her full attention.

"Yea Toboe?" he almost looked hesitant to ask for a few moments but he eventually overcame his fear and blurted, "Whose InuYasha?"

The question almost made Kagome trip over her own feet but luckily she caught herself. "InuYasha?" she questioned towards no one in particular but saw Toboe nod his head. "Did you hear me last night?"

Again he nodded.

"I'm sorry if I woke you Toboe. I thought I hadn't woken anyone up."

"Its okay Kagome, it's hard for me to fall asleep sometimes and last night was one of them." He smiled as he said this and Kagome couldn't help but return the affection.

Clearing her throat she said, "I used to travel in a group and there was a boy named InuYasha that I had cared for" she paused for a moment and Toboe took the liberty to ask another question. "Was it a wolf pack?"

Kagome giggled at his curiosity. "I guess you could call it that."

He smiled but his expression turned to a more questioningly one. "Why didn't you stay with that pack?"

The female wolf let out a sigh and raised her head high to try and collect what little warmth the sun gave since it was getting closer and closer to winter. Toboe had to squint his eyes to keep his sight on Kagome. "I guess when we completed our journey, there was no longer a reason to stay."

So it wasn't they exact reason but if she told him everything it would take forever and he probably wouldn't be able to believe it either.

"When we reach Paradise, are you going to leave us?" the question was very sad and it made Kagome's heart lurch in her chest.

Her gaze dropped to the ground. "To tell you the truth Toboe, I'm not exactly sure myself." She did not lie, in all honesty she really didn't know if she would or not. It all depended if they even got to Paradise. All Kagome knew was that they were being led to Paradise on pure instinct. Which could be a good or bad thing.

A loud gunshot instantly brought her out of her thoughts and the group was on their toes. All of them seemed to move until they were in a circle with Cheza in the middle.

"What the hell was that!" Tsume asked no one in particular.

His question was ungratefully answered as soldiers appeared, surrounding them on all sides. "Dammit!" bit out the gray wolf.

"Where the hell did _they_ all come from? And how come we weren't able to smell them!" Hige said, frustration evident in his voice.

The groups' eyes' scanned all around them for an opening of any kind, but were met with guns. Their hearts began beating faster by the minute.

'How are we going to get out of this?' thought Kagome, looking for any kind of an opening. There had to be some-

"Kagome."

Her eyes turned to Kiba. "What?"

His fists tightened, "Stay with Cheza until I find a way to get both you and her out of here safely."

Kagome's eyes widened. "But I can fight too!"

"Kagome!" his eyes never faltered from the soldiers before him, "Someone needs to protect Cheza. So do as I say."

Realizing he wouldn't change his mind, Kagome moved into the circle with Cheza and bent down so Cheza could situate herself comfortably on Kagome's back. Neither the soldiers nor the wolves moved, causing an eerie silence.

The guns were slowly taking aim and the male wolves quickly rushed at the soldiers with inhuman speed and killed them with no effort. It wasn't that easy though; other soldiers took aim at them and fired their guns non-stop.

Surprisingly none shot at Kagome or Cheza. Out of her peripheral vision Kagome saw a women with blonde hair staring at Cheza. An image of the group running past the same women flashed before Kagome's eyes. "It's…it's her." Kagome whispered.

* * *

Tsume killed the soldiers one after another with some effort. They just kept coming and coming. He could only imagine what the others were going through. He quickly slashed a soldier's throat before kicking another in the head. 'All of this better be worth getting to Paradise.'

Glancing over he saw Kiba's jaws around a man's neck before releasing him. In that moment Tsume saw just how powerful and dangerous Kiba looked with the blood dripping from his mouth.

The soldiers near Kiba were all weary and none wanted to get close to him. Tsume turned his head just as Kiba lunged at the doomed humans.

Quickly elbowing the human that had thought could sneak up on him, Tsume turned and let his fist connect with the soldiers jaw. The hit instantly broke the man's jaw and he fell to the ground helplessly. Bending down unmercifully, Tsume snapped his neck in half with his iron like jaw.

* * *

Hige and Toboe both worked as a team and while Toboe just liked to knock them out, Hige killed them. "Dirty humans" spit Hige as he relentlessly bit and clawed at the enemy. "You get what you deserve!" He quickly leapt into the air and came down seconds later, spilling the blood of three soldiers.

Without notice a soldier appeared behind Hige, but with a solid kick to the groin and head, was taken out by Toboe.

"Thanks squirt," said Hige, nodding approvingly.

The younger wolf smiled. "No problem!"

* * *

Kagome stood watching them all fight desperately before her gaze turned towards the blonde haired women once again. The woman's mouth silently said something but Kagome wasn't able to hear it.

"Its her" came the voice of Cheza. "She..watched over this one a long time ago."

"Kagome!" Hearing her name being called, Kagome ripped her eyes from the human and rested them on Kiba.

"Kagome, take Cheza this way and get out of here!" Kagome hesitated for a moment. Was it because of that woman that they were safe? That no one dared to fire at them?

"Kagome!"

Her gaze swept over the woman once more before she quickly began running in the direction where no soldier stood.

The bullets going off all around her made Kagome strive to go faster. As she reached the top of the hill, Kagome jumped into the air and heard Kiba yell, "Take care of her Kagome!"

She turned her head to look at him, air hitting her face as she and Cheza began to descent to the earth, and nodded. The land was clean and it surprisingly didn't slow Kagome down at all. She didn't stop until she came to the beginning of the more dense part of the forest. Only then did she catch her breath and look towards the direction she had come from.

'I hope they'll be alright…' She shook her head. 'Of course they'll be alright!' She felt something wet and looked at Cheza.

Her eyes widened. She was…crying. "Cheza?" The flower maiden rested her head against the female wolves shoulder. "This one…is hurting. This one feels their pain."

Her answer made Kagome's heart lurch in her chest. Should she go back and help? She made a motion to start walking back when she heard what Kiba had said run through her mind again. "Take care of her Kagome!"

It made her stop and watch sadly as red flames shot out from where she had been before. Not hiding in her disguise, she growled softly before jerking her body into the deep forest in a run. She would do as Kiba had asked and take care of Cheza. She put her faith in the rest of her group and hoped for their safe arrival back to her.

* * *

"Son of a bitch! You bastard, you cut me!" yelled Hige as he held his now bleeding arm carefully against his side. I'll kill you!" and with that he spun, outstretching his claws and cut off the humans head. He was breathing heavily now, all of these fights were taking their toll and as he glanced around he noticed he wasn't the only one. Toboe was almost falling to the ground with exhaustion. He was worried about the young wolf until he saw Tsume appeared in front of Toboe to protect him. He glanced in the opposite direction and saw that Kiba was almost done with the soldiers that had been over there.

Hige also noticed the marks on Kiba's body as well as his heavy breathing. There only looked to be a handful left which made the collard wolf smile.

The sooner they were done, the sooner they could eat. His attention returned to what was now before him. He didn't know when but there was a blazing wall in front of him. Fire. It wasn't all around him but as he jumped to get away, he noticed a rather large black vehicle disappearing from sight.

* * *

"We'll hopefully be somewhere safe soon Cheza, everything will be all right," said Kagome as she kept running, weaving in and out between trees with somewhat grace. She turned to face Cheza, "I will protect you Cheza."

And that was all Kagome said before she felt the sharp, skin penetrating grip around her neck as she slammed to the ground, Cheza being ripped from her back. The pain was nothing she had ever felt before. The restricting feeling around her neck wouldn't let her breathe and Kagome found herself desperately clawing at her attacker. It wouldn't let go until it threw her into the air and against a tree.

Kagome slumped over and struggled to get to legs as well as catch her breath. Her vision became blurry for a few seconds as she saw the deep red stain the ground beneath her. 'What that…hell?'

The scent of Lunar Flowers was not far and Kagome searched for Cheza violently. The ear piercing scream helped Kagome find the Flower Maiden and to her horror, she was on the ground, crying. "Ch…Cheza?" She watched the flower maiden try to sit up but couldn't.

'What could have done this?' With great effort, Kagome found her way to her feet and limped over to Cheza, almost falling along the way. "Cheza-"

Before she could finish, something dug deep into her back and Kagome yelped. The sound was worse than what a dog made when its abusive owner kicked it.

Kagome tried to grip onto something but realized that whatever had gotten her was stronger and would not let her go. She found herself once again in the air before quickly coming back down.

She hit the ground hard before rolling a few times. Only when she stopped did she hear that never forgettable growl. That same one she had heard a mere few months ago. She forced her eyes to open and focus on the familiar figure in front of her. Black fur and light blue eyes…it was **_her_**.

And in that moment Kagome's deep blue eyes turned pink and she growled deeply, bearing her fangs threateningly. She faintly heard Cheza's cries and Kiba's words once again came to her. "Take care of her Kagome!"

'I will.'

A sudden surge of power came to her and she forced herself to her feet, never once did she stop growling. In fact her growling increased as she looked at that demon in front of her. Her body began shaking with anger. "You killed my family...and now I will take your life."

Her attacker crouched before leaping into the air above Kagome. Before the wolf could land on her, Kagome easily moved out of the way, turned and viciously locked onto her enemies tail and whipped the wolf into a tree. She watched, pleased as it slowly slid to the floor, blood smearing on the trees trunk and staining the grass around it.

Kagome leapt and found herself biting at her enemies neck unmercifully, trying to tear a huge chunk off while using her clawed paws to try and scratch her eyes out. The need to kill had overtaken her and she couldn't stop. Not when she saw that faces of her mother and brother, dead. Unconsciously she bit down harder but released before the other wolf could scratch her with its hind leg and jumped back. There was blood dripping from Kagome's mouth as she stood not too far from the hurt animal.

"Get up, I'm not done with you yet," seethed Kagome uncharacteristically. Something had taken over her and it felt so good, Kagome didn't want it to end. She couldn't feel any pain.

The pink-eyed wolf watched the creature turn its head to look at her, growling as it tried to stand up. The action made Kagome's tail stand up straight and she began to flex her claws in the dirt.

"Get up you worthless dog!" The reaction Kagome got was perfect. It ran at her, thirsty for her blood and they both jumped into the air at the same time. They both collided, biting each other in the side before they fell to the ground.

When Kagome turned around a bullet managed to catch her right hind leg, causing Kagome to lose her balance and fall. A cry was heard and Kagome's gaze went to Cheza who had been up against a tree, tears still streaming down her face. Everything went blank, the only thing she could think of was getting to Cheza and she did, with much effort.

She felt the Flower Maiden's hands find their way into Kagome's fur, and an instant soothing feeling went through Kagome's body, causing her to shiver. "Cheza, are you okay?" When Cheza nodded, she felt at peace. "Good."

She did not realize that her eyes turned back to blue, but she did feel the excruciating pain that surfaced. She cried out as she collapsed before Cheza. "I'm so sorry Cheza…" Kagome gasped when she tried to pick herself up again. The wound on her leg was seeping with blood and it became totally numb. She managed to turn around, lower half on the ground while her upper half was supported by her front legs and she was met with that same man.

That same old, vile, grungy and disgusting man. That man that held a shotgun to her family then as he now held it at her. She saw him bend down next to the semi-conscious animal, never taking his eyes off of her, to pat it on the head.

"Your going to be just find Blue." She heard his gruff voice say. So that was its name…Blue.

He stood up again and put both hands on the gun and took aim at her.

'I'm going to die.' Instinctively she tried to black Cheza from his view and started to growl menacingly. She did not feel the tears sliding down her face; everything had become numb. 'I'm so sorry mom, Souta. I couldn't protect you then and I cant even avenge your death.' She felt shaking hands go around her neck and warmth came to her aching bones. 'I'm sorry…Cheza that I couldn't...I couldn't protect you. She saw an image of the group she came to love. One figure stood out though and the tears came faster.

'Please forgive me.'

And that was her last thought before she heard that gun go off.

* * *

**I hope you all liked it! Tell me what you thought!**


	16. Aftermath

"As if to be purified,

the world will be encased in ice

so that it can return to the beginning once more.

Paradise is a world that is opened by someone..."

A Wolf's Cry 

**Chapter Sixteen**- **Aftermath**

It's so dark here…I can't see anything...

She couldn't feel any part of her body and the familiar feeling of fear sprouted in her stomach. She felt so paralyzed.

"What happened?" she asked herself softly.

'Am I…dead?'

She tried opening her eyes but found her eyelids wouldn't move as well.

'I guess it really happened…' and with this, Kagome fell into the realm of unconsciousness.

* * *

"**Get up**." 

It was an unexpected and harsh command that was unrecognizable.Kagome heard it as she was coming to a semi-conscious state. Her eyes only fluttered open halfway, too tired to open them fully. All of her strength had vanished, leaving her like a puppet.

An image of a wolf flashed and she heard the command again, "**Get up**."

She still could feel nothing, nor could she do anything about it. "I-I cant!" A tear slid down her face. "I can't feel anything!" This voice sounded like pure _evil_. Why was it here?

Unbeknownst to her, she began to shiver uncontrollably.

"I wont _let_ you die."

The remark seized Kagome's whole being in an instant. What was it talking about? 'I must have really died. Or maybe I'm in the realm between.'

Ignoring it, she let her eyes close completely. If she were to die in only moments, then she would let herself go. She didn't know why though, was it because of her failure? Or, was it because she really wanted to she her family again? Kagome didn't even bother contemplating; she had no desire to think much of anything at the moment.

She was about to drift off when a sudden caress of a feathery light touch gave her goose bumps, rousing her before she could fall asleep. She sighed, enjoying the feeling but...

Why could she feel this? Couldn't she not feel anything only a few seconds ago? This place…something just wasn't right about it.

"I still have plans for you yet." The caress drifted at her neck, she felt thehand moving around her throat before it leisurely moved over her heart to rest. "Come back to me."

There was suddenly an immense pressure on her chest, causing Kagome to shriek loudly before she started to cough up blood. "Stop it! Stop it!" she screamed, wishing she could claw away at the pressure.

Out of nowhere appeared a white light. It was unmoving for a few agonizing seconds. She felt a strong force lift her up, arms and legs dangling as her chest was forced upward. In the blink of an eye she was surrounded in the light.The pressure was abruptly gone and Kagome was able to take a deep breath for the first time. At first she was unaware that her fingers began to twitch, but after a few moments she found herself flexing them until she was able to make a fist.

'I can move now.' Kagome opened her eyes slowly, but immediately closed them. The bright light that surrounded her was unyielding. Trying again, she took her time to let her eyes adjust to the brilliance before they opened all the way. 'It's all white.'

Her hair was all around her in motionless waves as she floated in the mass of white, feeling nothing. Flexing her hand again, she brought it up to her face to examine it.

Red. It covered her hand and laggardly dripped onto her face. Where had this come from? Swiftly bringing her left hand up to join its partner, her eyes widened. Again, the color red covered her hand and dripped soundlessly onto her face. Where had all this blood come from?

'What did I-' and then she remembered. The fight, the blood…and that animal. Her body pulsed heavily before pain consumed her and her body jerked forward. The pain only increased from this action and Kagome had the strong need to rip herself apart so it would end. Instead, she hugged her blood soaked body and watched as the red liquid sprayed everywhere. "Why is this happening! Make it stop! Anyone! Please!" She screamed so loudly she thought her ears would burst.

The feeling of her blood leaving her body made her feel sick. Her hands kept slipping from her arms because of how soaked they were. She was going to go crazy if this didn't stop. Feeling how slippery her skin was and knowing why made Kagome gag. Was this how her mother and brother felt before they died?

"**Get up**!"

Without notice, something shocked her and all the white disappeared, replaced by a brown leafed ceiling illuminated by firelight. She tried to sit up straight but she felt a searing hotness that prevented her. She gasped a few times before she was able to take in large breaths so she could calm down her heart rate. Her body began to pulse uncomfortably and for a second or two she felt paralyzed again before she was able to move again. She moved her hand in front of her face as she had done before to examine it. She blinked a few times before her hand came into full view and watched her fingers move slightly.

There were cuts and bruises everywhere. Her eyes traveled up her arm only to rest on a bandaged upper arm. "What…" she stared unfocused at the bandages. 'What happened to me?' Looking around, all she saw were trees. She heard something snap and an image of a gun appeared in the blink of an eye but disappeared just as quickly as it had come. Forgetting how much it hurt the first time she tried to sit up, she tried it again but failed miserably, and with a yelp her upper body fell to the ground. She gritted her teeth, hissing from the sting of pain. Quick footsteps caught her interest and she could hear them coming closer until they stopped right by her side.

"Kagome are you okay?" asked Toboe worriedly.

"It hurts so bad!" Kagome said, shaking her head violently. She tried to move her right arm but sadly she couldn't. Glancing down she saw it resting in a sling, wrapped tightly in bandages.

"Hold on Kagome, I'll go get Cheza!" without another word Toboe got up and ran into the woods.

* * *

It seemed like an eternity had passed before Kagome felt the feathery soft touch caress her being. It was that same warm touch that overpowered the pulsating pain like it always had on previous occasions. Slowly opening her eyes, Kagome looked up and was met with Cheza's smiling face. It was the same Cheza she had been traveling with, but Kagome noticed a few scratches marred her pretty face. 

"Are you alright?" asked the Flower Maiden delicately. Kagome nodded with a slight grin. "This one knew you would be okay!" said Cheza happily before standing up.

"But are you okay Cheza?" Kagome asked desperately. Kagome's eyes reflected an immense sadness, she felt so bad. Cheza had been hurt…because of her.

Without notice, she felt someone help her sit up. "Here Kagome, let me help you get up," she heard Toboe say. She obliged, but very slowly. She pushed herself up with her left leg, but when she tried to put pressure on her right, it gave out. Before she could fall, Toboe tightened his grip around her so she wouldn't hurt herself. Kagome looked down and saw many layers of bandages wrapped around her right thigh. It was the place where the bullet had grazed her. Pushing away the thought of that moment in time, she used her left leg once again to lift herself with the help of Toboe.

It was surprising how he wasn't getting the least bit frustrated with her. It was…a nice change.

When Kagome finally stood up, Toboe took her left arm and tenderly put it around his shoulder so he could wrap his arms around her for support.

They slowly began to walk over to a tree that had a very big trunk that was sort of in the shape of a cocoon that was just meant for her. When they finally made it to the tree, Toboe helped Kagome sit down against the tree without wincing in pain before he himself sat in from of her so she could see him. Cheza meanwhile, sat right next to her so she could soothe her from the pain.

Kagome smiled at them before it turned into a slight frown. Noticing the change in Kagome's mood, Toboe asked, "Are you alright?"

She raised her eyes to his and stared for a few moments examining. He looked concerned.

Deciding not to delay any longer Kagome spoke up, "What happened after I blacked out? What happened to the old man with the gun? And the dog?" She watched as his expression changed unexpectedly to one of excitement.

He seemed to take his time remembering all the details before he began. "Well after Tsume and I heard you scream, we went out to find you. It took a few minutes to finally reach you, but Tsume managed to stop the old man before he was able to shoot." She watched as Toboe brought his fisted hands up in suspense as he continued, "Tsume grabbed the gun before it went off and smashed it in two with his teeth. It was so cool! Then he knocked the old man out and then picked you up while I got Cheza. We ran really far before we found this place...I dont remember seeing a dog Kagome."

So that was what happened. The dog must have run away and It had been Tsume and Toboe who had saved her. Kagome would have thought…

"What happened to Kiba?"

The excitement drained from his face. "He…he seems to be doing okay now, but he was pretty beat up before."

Kagome eyes narrowed. "Why is he so beat up?" She knew it was a stupid question, since she had seen him fighting before she left, but she wanted to know anyway.

Toboe's eyes wandered from hers. "Well when we passed him on our way to get you, he told us he would fight them until you and Cheza were far away."

Lowering her head Kagome closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, held it, then released with some ease. "Where is he now?" she asked.

"Well," Toboe paused. He seemed to be mesmerized by his pointer fingers that he kept tapping against each other. "He's not far from here, but he's resting."

There was a long pause.

'I want to see him…'

"This one can take you to him," said Cheza, bringing Kagome out of her thoughts.

Snapping her head in the Flower Maiden's direction, Kagome looked at her with pleading eyes. "You can?"

With a nod, Cheza stood and helped Kagome tenderheartedly up with her.

The two began to make their way into the woods when they heard Toboe yell, "Just make sure you tell Kiba when he wakes up that I didn't bring you!"

Smiling at his remark, Kagome silently thanked him before they disappeared.

* * *

They stood silently next to one another and in that time, Kagome was able to get a good look at him. He was lying there, motionless and covered in bandages. Kagome's heart lurched in her chest. He looked…awful. Before she could let the tears fall, she looked at Cheza and said, "thank you." 

Slowly taking her arm off of Cheza's shoulder, Kagome found her balance without the support of the Flower Maiden.

She stepped forward only to stop. "Can you leave us?" it wasn't a command, but rather a plea.

Cheza said nothing and Kagome could feel Cheza's presence dissipate before it was completely gone. Once Kagome knew they were alone, she let the stream of tears fall down her face as she began walking to Kiba.

These tears were for Kiba, but they were also from the extreme pain she felt and the thought of him going through the same pain.

When Kagome finally made it to Kiba's side, not without stumbling a few times mind you, she lowered herself with great pain, mostly from her right leg, to lay down next to Kiba. Why did those people have to come? Why did he choose to fight alone? Where had Hige been? Why did they want the Flower Maiden so much? Why? _WHY?_

"I'm so sorry."

Paying no attention to her right arm, Kagome turned on her side and rested her left arm on Kiba's chest touching his face delicately. "I'm _so_ sorry" she whispered. She was somewhat able to wrap herself around him to keep him warm and as close to him as possible.

That night she had cried herself to sleep.

* * *

HAPPY EASTER! 

Sorry for the long awaited chapter! I thought I would have had it out yesterday but I worked on it right up until 8:00pm and then went to watch Naruto :P

I hope you like it, so tell me what you thought!

Much love, Dark Paine

Contact and information is in my profile!


	17. Captured

"As if to be purified,

the world will be encased in ice

so that it can return to the beginning once more.

Paradise is a world that is opened by someone..."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Seventeen- Captured**

The three wolves and Cheza sat around the fire silently. They were all still exhausted from the fighting that occurred almost a week ago. Everyone was pretty beat up and it didn't look like they were going to move for maybe another few days or so since Kagome had only woken up today. Kiba however, was yet to do so.

"By the way, where _is _Kagome?" asked Hige curiously. The last time he had checked on her was two days ago and she didn't look like she would rouse.

"This one brought her to Kiba," answered Cheza easily. It hadn't taken very long for her to reunite with the others even though she stopped a few times to bask in the moonlight to regain some energy.

Tsume, who had stayed quiet, glanced at Cheza before his eyes returned to the fire. "So Kiba and Kagome are alone together?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Toboe nod. So this was how it was?

Leisurely making it to his feet, Tsume stuck his hands in his pockets and wandered off into the forest without glancing back at the remaining group.

"What do you think is up with him?" Hige questioned, eyebrows scrunching together as he watched Tsume's back until it disappeared.

* * *

Although his eyes focused on the forest floor beneath him, Tsume's mind was at another place. He was remembering how warm she felt against him. The feeling would be forever in his mind.

He had held her close that day, afraid she would vanish if he didn't. All of his emotions became fucked up since that day it was ridiculous.

And all because of her.

Maybe it was because she was the only female of the pack and he felt some responsibility for her. Or maybe it was… "Who am I kidding? She belongs with him anyway."

But that day he felt like _his_ equal, maybe even stronger than _him_. If it weren't for him, she would have died almost a week ago. But she could have been long dead if it wasn't for Kiba.

He stopped when he came to somewhat of a clearing with a large rock in the center. Looking up, he had a perfect, treeless view of the night sky. "I must be out of my mind."

He had to have been. He had never experienced anything like this before and he wished he couldn't ever again.

Returning his gaze to what lay in front of him, he began walking again. This would all pass soon enough but Tsume whished it would pass right now. It just didn't suit him to feel like this.

He let his feet take him wherever they wanted to go, unaware that he was actually following a scent until it was right in front of him.

There they lay, twined together in a heap of bandages and body parts, sleeping soundlessly. Tsume had to admit it stung a little to see them like that. He moved away from them and leaned his back against a tree so he couldn't see them.

"I really am a fool."

* * *

Toboe looked away from the empty spot where Tsume had sat, and turned towards Hige. "I think Tsume feels alone a lot and…I think he likes Kagome. Maybe he sees her like how he sees himself. I could be wrong though, but these days Tsume hasn't been himself." That was Toboe's conclusion. Why else would Tsume be sad? But it didn't sound like Tsume at all. Tsume liking Kagome, which just…. Weren't they polar opposites? Didn't they basically hate each other? Toboe was brought out of his thoughts when Hige cleared his throat.

"So you mean to tell me Tsume likes Kagome? Are you serious? Tsume is more likely to stab Kagome than to screw her." Hige shook his head, "I don't think it'll ever happen."

Toboe lowered his head and closed his eyes. "Well you never know; it's just a feeling I had!"

Without notice, Hige started to laugh uncontrollably, causing Toboe to clench his teeth before shaking a fist in Hige's amused face. "Will you stop laughing! Its just-"

"What's so funny? Asked an icy cold voice. He had left for a few minutes to come back to these idiots laughing and fighting. Great, just great.

Toboe quickly glanced away from Hige and told Tsume, "Its nothing," before trying to shut Hige up.

Tonight was going to be a long night.

* * *

The sound of birds chirping awoke Kagome out of her slumber. She was still against Kiba, the exact position she was in before she had fallen asleep.

She looked up at Kiba's face that was glowing from the suns rays and smiled. It felt good to wake up like this. He even looked like he was doing much better today than the day before.

Kagome sighed before she painstakingly sat up. She closed her eyes as she let herself bask in the morning sun. She felt warm even though the seasons were changing, and it seemed like it would be a beautiful day. She made her way to her feet slowly and somewhat stretched out the limbs that were not hurting.

Catching the scent of the other wolves, Kagome decided she'd better go and thank Tsume. Taking one last look at Kiba, she smiled. "I'll be back later," she said before she headed into the more dense part of the woods, following the familiar scent.

* * *

They were all awake –had been for a while- but no one moved because they were too lazy to get up. A stomach growled. "Awe guys I'm hungry!" stated Hige as he patted his stomach.

Opening one eye to glance in the collard dogs' direction, Tsume growled, "then why don't you go get something for everyone to eat? You are, by the way, the least injured out of all of us."

Hige groaned. "But Toboe isn't really hurt either!"

Tsume sat up and gave him an 'are-you-kidding?' look. "Toboe is still too young to catch anything that would feed us all. So that leaves you porky."

Growling, Hige stood up and marched off to find some food. A giggle caught their attention and three eyes were glued to Kagome as she approached. "He'll probably eat it all in spite before he comes back."

Tsume crossed his arms, "hn."

"Hey Kagome!" Toboe said, happily waving towards her.

She began to kneel down when she was next to Toboe, and she was immediately helped by Cheza. When she was comfortable, Kagome felt Cheza's hands stroking her to relieve her of her pain.

"Good morning everyone!" said Kagome cheerfully. An equally happy "Good morning!" followed by two of the three members.

Tsume had shook his head, thinking on how ridiculously happy they were.

Toboe looked at her and asked, "How are you feeling today?"

She put one finger to her bottom lip and looked as if she were in thought before turning to Toboe again. "Better than yesterday, how about you?"

His smile decreased a little but he was still ecstatic nonetheless. "Me and Cheza are doing great!"

Satisfied with his answer, Kagome turned to Tsume. "And how about you? Are you alright?" She noticed the bandages on his arms, waist, and shoulders.

"I'm doing fine," he said nonchalantly. Kagome's eyes dropped from his face. "I…I wanted to thank you for saving me yesterday." She let her eyes move back to his, and she found him staring at her, causing a blush to rise to her cheeks.

It didn't go unnoticed by Tsume, yet he didn't point it out. Instead, he let himself fall to the ground. "Yea, whatever."

Kagome's eyes narrowed at him as she muttered, "Why do I even bother?"

The comment also did not go unnoticed by Tsume. 'This is ridiculous.'

Before he could say anything, Hige barged in with a rather large deer that had already been somewhat eaten.

"Look, I got breakfast!" he said happily and everyone perked up. "Bone appetite!"

Sitting across from Kagome, Tsume made up his mind. No matter how much it 'hurt' to see both Kiba and Kagome together, he would not interfere unless it was to protect Kagome. No matter how much it would hurt him in the end.

* * *

It was mid week, Wednesday to be exact, and Kagome found herself walking lazily around. She felt very good at the moment, having had taken her sling off to let her arm be free, she was also stuffed form that nights dinner which consisted of deer again. She didn't eat it raw like the others though, she cooked it over the fire until it looked edible. She patted her stomach happily; man did it taste good! Who would have thought? No matter as long as it tasted great, there would be no problem.

Coming to the edge of the forest, Kagome saw a rather large rock that extended out a little more than the cliff that it rested on. It looked very sturdy so Kagome decided she would sit at the tip of the rock that over looked an immense expansion of uninhabited land.

Bringing herself to the edge of the rock, she let herself sit down gently and let her legs hang off the edge of the rock. It was all so beautiful, looking up at the night sky filled with stars.

A chilled wind engulfed her, reminding her of the changing season. Wrapping her better arm around herself, a memory caught her interest, something her grandpa had said. He had said one when the snow was just starting to fall, "Great Spirit of the sky, stop the snow from falling!" Remembering the comical desperation in his voice caused her to giggle. It seemed like ages had passed since she'd heard his voice that she missed so dearly.

She raised her head as the wind left before dropping it sorrowfully. 'I'll be with all of them soon. I just cant get rid of this feeling in the pit of my stomach,' thought Kagome to herself deliberately. 'Its not hard to believe though, with the rate that I've been getting hurt and all. I'd be surprised if everyone survived and made it to Paradise, but that doesn't mean I wont keep cheering them on.'

A gently said, "Hey" make her turn her head to see who was talking to her.

Her eyes widened, "Kiba?" She couldn't believe it; he was standing only a few feet from her and all by himself. When she saw him begin to walk closer to her, she made a motion to get up but was quickly halted by Kiba. "I'll come over there."

Nodding her head Kagome relaxed and watched his every step until he helped himself to sit down next to her. They both stared off into the vast land in silence.

They were like that for a few moments before Kagome spoke up," how are you feeling?" she asked, not looking at him.

He took a moment to take in a breath before releasing it. "I'm actually doing better than I thought. I guess Cheza has been helping me recuperate while I was unconscious. How long was I out for?" he asked, turning to look at her.

She didn't meet his gaze. "You were out for a pretty long time." Once again she lowered her head, "I was beginning to think you would never wake up."

Bringing her gaze to finally meet his, she found him staring intently at her. She gave him an awkward smile. "If you were gone, how would we get to Paradise?" A light blush arose on her cheeks.

He looked away from her. "I wanted to thank you for saving Cheza."

Kagome sighed heavily. "If you even want to call it that. I almost got the both of us killed if it wasn't for Tsume and Toboe…If it wasn't for them, I know I wouldn't be here right now."

A finger found its way to her chin and turned her head so she was looking straight at Kiba. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you in time."

He was looking at her hotly, causing millions upon million of butterflies to flutter in her stomach. "I-its alright! You don't have to worry about it! I'm here after all aren't I?" She felt the heat rising and she knew she must have looked like a tomato.

Great, just great.

"I hope you can forgive me." His eyes were half lidded and Kagome had to look away.

"O-of course!" Her heart was beating crazily.

His finger urged her to look at him and she did, although very slowly.

"But," he said suddenly.

He started to lean closer to her and Kagome was sure she was starting to get red all over.

"I hope,"

Closer and closer…

"To make up for it"

She could feel his hot breath against her face. The butterflies in her stomach multiplied by one billion in that moment. Her eyes widened as he came even closer.

"In Paradise."

He whispered it against her lips seductively and met her surprised eyes with his before capturing her lips in a kiss.

It started out gentle before becoming more passionate with need. It had been forever since they were both awake and with each other, and the need had consumed them both.

Kagome's arms wrapped around Kiba's neck gently as one of his found its way to her hair. Kagome moaned into his mouth, allowing Kiba to deepen the kiss.

She tried to get closer to him but a sting of pain caused Kagome to shriek, which ended the kiss abruptly. They were both panting hard and Kagome rested her head on Kiba's shoulder, not letting him see how red her had gotten.

"Did I hurt you?" breathed Kiba, resting his chin on top of Kagome's head.

"No," she sighed, trying to catch her breath. Once she did, she nuzzled his neck. "Can we stay like this for a few more minutes?" She felt him nod into her hair and she smiled.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of golden eyes had been watching before they disappeared.

* * *

Waking up next to Kiba the next morning felt wonderful. They hadn't done anything 'bad', but for the first time in a while, Kagome felt whole. It was refreshing and she couldn't believe how happy it made her feel.

When they had gotten back from the cliff, they had lain down together and cuddle and kissed before drifting off. Butterflies flutter in her stomach with just the memory.

When he had kissed her, she though her heart was going to explode.

Sitting up she sighed. 'At least I know now,' she thought looking at him with a smile. That smile quickly disappeared when she heard an evil laugh.

Rapidly jumping up, Kagome turned to see a man dressed in a long black and deep purple coat. His face adorned a white mask with a black patch covering his left eye. On the top of his head there was a mass of what looked to be hair in every direction.

"Who are you?" growled Kagome threateningly.

He laughed again, smiling under his mask. "We've actually met a few times, don't you remember?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "What?" She stood and observed him. Something about the energy emitting off of him seemed familiar. Then her eyes widened. "It was you! You're the one with the golden eye!"

He took a step forward, "Ahh yes, now you remember." He bowed towards her, "I am Lord Darcia."

Kagome's fists tightened. She hadn't moved away from Kiba, yet she felt the need to run as fast as she could away. She looked at his sleeping face. 'I can't leave him!'

"You might want to step away from him," came the dark voice, causing Kagome to bring her attention back to him.

"Why?" Her growling increased. She watched as he stared right at her with his piercing eye.

"Because even now while he is laying there drugged, you are draining his energy." His head tilted to one side when he saw her eyes enlarge.

"I drugged him so we wouldn't be interrupted, but don't worry, he wont die." He didn't make the last part sound so convincing. "But if you keep standing next to him, he just might do so… You are a Lunar Wolf after all."

Kagome looked down at Kiba. 'Draining his energy?' " I don't understand," Kagome seethed. This was really starting to get her mad.

Darcia took a few more steps closer to her. He flicked his hand and in that moment Kagome felt a painful restriction around her neck. She couldn't breathe.

"Listen carefully and don't interrupt." He said this while he was turned away from her. "You have a special connection with Cheza don't you?" He saw that she didn't object so he continued. "Even though Cheza can feel the pain of other wolves the instant they are hurt, when you get hurt though…" he paused as he stopped right in front of her. "She feels the pain ten times more and she feels it until you are healed. Although the full effect of this hasn't happen yet, it will. Even now as we speak the connection is growing and becoming stronger. If you are at the brink of death, so is she. For anyone to heal themselves takes time, but since you are a Lunar Wolf, you feed on other wolves energy-- unaware of it yourself-- so you can survive and so that the Flower Maiden can also survive."

He lifted his finger to brush the side of Kagome's face. She was starting to turn a little blue so he released the hold around her neck so she could take in some breath. He watched as she did so gratefully.

"So you cant die or else it wont be able to open."

Kagome replied after she had replenished her lungs with air. "What wont open?"

He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Paradise," before stepping away, releasing Kagome from the hold completely. Kagome stood frozen to the spot.

"You see, you and Cheza will open the gates to Paradise for me. You are a Lunar Wolf and she is a Lunar Flower, so it's only fitting." He turned away from her briskly, coat floating in the air before settling on the ground. "You will meet me on the cliff at the edge of the forest tonight and if you don't…" he let himself trail off before turning to meet her gaze. "I will kill everyone you hold dear to you."

Kagome's breath hitched in her throat, eyes staring shakily at him.

"You might not want to know this before hand, but I've decided to tell you. Once you come with me, you wont see your companions again. Your life is mine now and I will do with it as I please… And remember, **don't** be late," he said then vanished.

She stood for a few more moments before dropping to her knees. She struggled for air, tears coming down her face simultaneously. "I have to leave…I'm killing everyone just by being near them." She put her hands over her mouth as she rocked her body back and fourth.

'I'm a monster.'

She squeezed her eyes shut before looking at Kiba. Feeling a sudden surge of disgust for herself, she moved away from him in a crab walk fashion. 'If I stay with him, I'll kill him. I have to get away.'

Pushing herself to her feet, Kagome staggered before breaking out into a run, not knowing where she was going.

* * *

She ran for hours, the feeling of disgust taking hold of her until she couldn't take it anymore. She had attacked everything in sight and would be faced with the images of her mother and brother once again. It was her nightmare that she would have to live with the rest of her life. She could just imagine the others looking as grotesque because she had killed them. She had to get away.

When she had come back to where she and Kiba had slept, she still found him there. Scratches and cuts were on her body, but she paid no heed to them and she want thinking about Cheza at the moment.

Making her way over to Kiba she kneeled, brushing his hair away from his face. The tears came back once again as she caressed his cheek.

"Even now, just being next to you is killing you. I am killing you." Her heart was broken she crushed; the pain was immense.

She leaned down to kiss his forehead. "We'll meet again in Paradise. Where we can both be together with no worries or anything to worry about." She raised her head and found herself grabbing Kiba's hand to place it on her cheek.

'Even now I am taking away the energy _you_ need to stay alive so that I can live.' The tears flowed freely down her face as she kissed the inside of his hand.

"I'm sorry...for everything I've put you through."

She studied him one last time before rising to her feet. She would never forget him. She began walking away in the direction of the cliff. "If for only this time can I save you, I will do so willingly."

* * *

She wasn't surprised when she found him standing there. The tears she had shed were no longer to be seen. She had come to admit to herself that she would never seem any of them again.

"I'm glad you're on time," said Darcia.

Before she could reply, the wind had picked up roughly and Kagome had to shield herself from the rocks that were sent flying at her.

"Get on!" came his voice again as the air died down somewhat.

Bringing her arms down she saw Darcia standing in the doorway of an airship. 'This is it.' Taking a deep breath she turned her head to look in back of her one last time. She said, "goodbye" into the wind.

With new determination she walked on to the airship, the door closing behind her. With a slight jolt, the airship started to rise into the sky.

"Kagome!"

Quickly turning to look out the small window beside the door she saw Tsume running towards the airship. Sadness filled her; he was trying to save her again.

With another jolt the airship took off into the sky, and Kagome watched as Tsume's form disappeared.

"Sit down," commanded Darcia and Kagome turned to see a seat next to her. Sitting, she let her feet rest in the sparkly green liquid that was at her feet. Her eyes immediately became downcast.

'I would even give up my life for you Tsume.'

* * *

Oh yes long chapter. Its been a while since I have posted a long chapter hasn't it? Anyway this is a late birthday for myself, my birthday was on May 6th. So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter so tell me what you think of it!

Until next time,

Dark Paine


	18. Mission

"As if to be purified,

the world will be encased in ice

so that it can return to the beginning once more.

Paradise is a world that is opened by someone..."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Eighteen- Mission**

He ran as fast as he could through the woods. He wasn't able to save her. Why? He…he was too weak, he should have run faster. Then maybe she wouldn't be in that airship, kidnapped.

"Why?" Tsume asked himself. "Why didn't she fight back!" The anger in him swelled and he increased his speed. Trees and animals flew passed him and he didn't look back. He felt the need to rip anything or anyone to shreds.

If anything got in his way he would destroy it. If any of the pack members got in his way of getting to Kiba, he swore he would kill them.

Why hadn't Kiba done anything? Why?

He slowed his pace as he neared his destination and stopped when he finally reached it. He stood and observed Kiba sleeping soundlessly in the center of a field.

Tsume was infuriated.

With every step Tsume took towards Kiba, his anger grew ten fold until he delivered a bone cracking kick to Kibas' ribs. Tsume growled when all Kiba did was turn over. "Get the fuck up you worthless piece of shit!"

He kicked him again and there was still no response. Tsume bend down in frustration and brought his face down to Kiba's. "Get-" he stopped himself when he caught a scent. "What?" He narrowed his eyes before standing up. 'He was drugged?'

The familiar question of 'Why?' came up again, but Tsume decided to wait until the drugs wore off so he could ask Kiba instead of trying to figure it out himself.

* * *

The noise at his side woke Tsume up from his light slumber. He watched as Kiba sat up and groaned before massaging his forehead. "What happened?" he asked no one in particular and almost jumped when Tsume stood before him.

"That's what I'd like to know," said Tsume, deciding not to tell Kiba he almost beat the crap out of him. "Do you remember anything?"

Kiba shook his head in response and turned to his side. Seeing no one there his eyes narrowed.

"She's been kidnapped."

Kiba whipped back around to look at Tsume. "What?"

Tsume crossed his arms over his chest. "The man who had Cheza kidnapped Kagome…I wasn't able to save her."

Kibas' head dropped. "We should tell the others and leave as soon as we can." Standing up, Kiba removed the rest of his bandages and flexed his arms before heading off to the others, Tusme keeping in toe.

* * *

Kagome grimaced at how bitter and horrid this place was as she followed Darcia down a lengthy hallway. It was very dark but no matter how terrible it got, she wouldn't regret her decision. If she was going to open Paradise, she would. She would let the others go to a wonderful and enchanting place where they would be safe in exchange for her life. 

This action helped her remember how it almost felt good to be selfless to make others happy. Although she had done such things before in exchange for her life, she was never really afraid of dieing because she knew InuYasha would always come to her.

That wasn't the case this time though.

When they reached a rather large room, Darcia stopped and Kagome moved to stand beside him. She observed the room and saw numerous high tech machines. In the center of the room was a huge capsule filled with pink sparkly liquid. It almost looked pretty if Kagome didn't feel the dark energy coming off of it.

She walked up to the capsule and placed her hands on it. "What is this?" Her question echoed throughout the significant room.

"This,"

Kagome turned quickly to see Darcia standing a little to close for her liking, "is what is going to help me destroy your friends by using you." No sooner had the words left his mouth, his hand grabbed Kagome by the throat.

She tried gasping for breath but found she couldn't. Her throat was becoming dry and it hurt to even try to swallow her saliva.

"The next time you wake up, you will be surrounded by your dead friends who you have killed." His grip on her throat tightened.

Kagome ground her teeth together. It felt like her neck was going to snap at any second. She started to cry. 'This cant be happening.' The whole reason why she had gone with Darcia was to save her friends, not have them killed. He was going to use her as a weapon.

Bringing his face close to Kagome's, he whispered, "After you open the gates to Paradise, I'll kill you."

She managed to let out a little sob before she felt something hard connect with her head, knocking her out.

* * *

Kiba and Tsume found the others as they were waking up. They must have been drugged also, thought Tsume. 

The group sat down together and Tsume spoke first. "It seems all of you, excluding myself, have been drugged. Somewhere in that time Kagome was kidnapped." He saw their shocked expressions.

Toboe immediately stood up, "We have to go after her!"

"Yea!" Hige agreed.

Tsume, who had been standing, said, "That's the plan, but we have to be careful. This is going to be dangerous. The same person who had Cheza now has Kagome."

The group fell silent. They all had encountered that man once before and all of them had felt the bad energy flowing off of him.

Cheza's gasp drew their attention. Her hands flew up to her head clutching it with a pained expression.

"Cheza, what's wrong?" Kiba asked hurriedly as he made his way over to her.

He hugged her to him and rubbed her back. After a few moments Cheza moved away from him. "This one is alright. We should leave now." It took a minute for Kiba to react but he finally helped the flower maiden onto his back.

Kiba turned his gaze back to the group. "I don't know about you guys but I am itching for a fight," said Kiba, trying to divert their attention away from Cheza. Everyone nodded with a smirk.

"I think its time those nobles and humans get to see what happens when wolves get angry," said Hige darkly.

"They're going to pay for taking Kagome away," announced Toboe as he flexed his clawed hands.

Tsume stood at the front of the group. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Without a seconds notice, the group sped off into the night.

* * *

Oh an update :D I hope you liked this small chapter lol. Hopefully I'll get into the mood of writing some nice long chapters sometime soon. Let me know what you think, all reviews are appreciated! Sorry it took so long to post, was a little tipsy I guess? 

Does anyone watch K-drama or J-drama? If you do please let me know your faves! I recently watche 1 Litre of Tears and loved that J-drama! It was so good! I am also watching a K-drama called The Bizarre Bunch :D

Also, Check out my new fanfiction! Its an Inuyasha/ YuYu Hakusho crossover. Its set in AU and is a Kagome/Yoko pairing! Its got 3 chapters and 10 reviews so please check it out!


	19. Half Breed

"As if to be purified,

the world will be encased in ice

so that it can return to the beginning once more.

Paradise is a world that is opened by someone..."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Nineteen- Half-breed**

After draining the pink liquid out of the capsule, Darcia walked back to Kagome who still lay unconscious on the floor and picked her up. Walking up to the capsule, Darcia examined the now dry inside.

There were medal restraints that would hold Kagome in place before she would awaken. One would be place around her neck, two on her wrists, and two that would secure her ankles. There was no telling how dangerous she would be when she woke up.

Darcia didn't want to take his chances.

Hoisting Kagome up and into the capsule, Darcia secured her in place. He pulled on them to make sure they would not open until it was the right time. Deciding they weren't going to open, he walked over to a large computer. The doors to the pod shut with the touch of a button and it began to once again fill with the pink sparkly liquid.

When the capsule was done being filled, steam cascaded around the room, making the temperature rise slowly in the room.

Darcia let out a sigh as he watched Kagome's still form. She really was a beautiful creature, he noticed as he gazed at her unmoving hair that surrounded her in the shiny pink liquid.

Removing his wig and mask, Darcia turned to the giant computer screen and scanned all the information that appeared. 'This will be all over soon…and when it is, you will come back to me Hamona.'

* * *

Running for hours on end started to hurt the group's legs and so they now found themselves resting on the curb in an old town. The smell of cooking caught Hige's nose and he began to drool uncontrollably. His stomach growled loudly. "I'm so hungry!"

Tsume lifted an eye open to look at the collard wolf. "Then why don't you get all of us something to eat?" suggested Tsume, whose stomach also growled for the need to eat.

Hige narrowed his eyes. "Why is it me who always has to get the food?"

"Because your always the one complaining."

Before they could keep bantering at each other, Cheza stood up. "This one will get us food."

It was weird to hear Cheza say something like that. Did she even know what they liked to eat? Kiba stood also but the Flower Maiden held out her hand to stop him. "This one would like to go alone."

Alone? Cheza had never gone _anywhere_ alone. Would she be okay? Their gazes met and he gave her a pleading look. To his surprise she didn't back down. A few moments passed before Kiba hesitantly nodded his head. "Just stay safe okay?"

Cheza smiled in return, then turning to leave the group to themselves.

Once she was out of ear shot, Tsume turned to Kiba, "Do you really think she'll be okay by herself?"

Kiba sighed, "This town doesn't seem to be dangerous so she should be alright."

In all actuality the group had become tense when Cheza left. She was always the one to relieve stress and let them become calm easily. She had also either been with the pack or with a member of the pack. It just felt weird to not know if she was safe or not. This was a new experience that the group didn't like at all.

* * *

Searching for what the wolves liked to eat was very tiring. When Cheza herself was hungry, she would only need to bask in the sun or moonlight to get fed. But the others had to eat real things, and it was hard to know what they wanted.

She stopped where she was and tried to remember if she saw anyone eating something that came from the other village they had gone to. A smell caught her attention and she followed it until she reached a little stand.

It had a rather large sign that read "Hot Dogs" above it. She watched as the man running it handed a boy a 'hot dog'. When she caught sight of the 'hot dog', she immediately recognized it as something she saw one of the pack members eating. Smiling to herself she ran up to the stand and was greeted rather kindly by the man.

"What can I get you?" he asked cheerfully.

"Can this one have four…hot dogs?" asked Cheza lightly.

"Coming right up!" replied the man as he set to work.

He didn't ask for anything when he handed her the food and she didn't bother saying anything more to him. Nothing came to mind as she walked until she came to an alleyway. Looking down it, a tingle in the back of her mind came to life all of a sudden.

Checking her surroundings she noticed she had taken a wrong turn. Even though she did, Cheza decided she could check out what exactly was giving her this feeling. She followed the dimmed lights carefully until she stopped dead in her tracks.

Lying before her was the same animal that had attacked her and Kagome. Its' eyes met hers and she had to take in fear.

"I'm not going to hurt you," said the dog before it returned to nursing its injured leg.

Cheza could only observe the animal. Its leg wound looked pretty deep and there was blood on the ground next to it. The tingling sensation became more powerful as she looked on, but in that moment she realized that this sensation she was having was because of the animal before her.

Setting down the hot dogs she had gotten, Cheza walked over to the injured animal and kneeled down before her. In response, Cheza could hear a slight growl coming from it, only to cease when Cheza ran her fingers through its fur.

"You have some wolf in you," spoke Cheza, her expression serious. She realized that because of this, she was unable to resist comforting her even though she did attack Kagome and herself. She had a connection with all wolves and it wouldn't feel right if she just left her.

When the statement finally registered in the half-breed's mind, she stopped nursing her leg to look at Cheza. The feeling of Cheza's hands on her gave her a warm feeling and a powerful sense of a connection. The scent coming off of the flower maiden was also very pleasing. She felt the bones in her body relax for the first time in a while.

But as fast as the feeling had come, it left when the Flower Maiden stood after picking up the hot dogs and turned to leave.

"Blue."

Cheza stopped her retreat and turned back to the half wolf, tilting her head slightly. "Blue?"

"My name is Blue."

A small grin on Cheza's face appeared before she nodded her head. Without another word, the flower maiden walked away from Blue and headed back to the pack.

* * *

I didn't take long to figure out which way led back to the group, but the connection that Cheza had with the pack also helped her way. When she did return though, she saw them all stand, the tension they had while she was gone disappearing.

Breaking the silence Cheza held out the hot dogs, "Here!" she said contently.

Hige was the first to run up to her and receive his hot dog. "Thanks Cheza, you saved the day!" He began to drool just at the smell of it and quickly consumed it, as did everyone else when they were given theirs.

No one even cared to think about how she knew what they liked. They were all just thankful that she brought them back something.

After they finished eating, the group set out once again on their journey for Kagome.

"How much longer do you think it will take to get there?" asked Toboe as they ran out of the town. He hoped it didn't take long to get there; he really missed Kagome. He missed her scent, her presence, and the feeling of being safe. When he'd have both Tsume and Kagome there with him, he felt like nothing could hurt him because of how secure they made him feel. Now that Kagome was gone and he was left with Tsume, he somewhat felt only half of what he felt before.

"I don't exactly know where we are going or how long it will take to get there," answered Kiba who was at the front of the pack. He was once again traveling on instinct like he had done when they were searching for Cheza.

When they reached the end of the town, a barren wasteland awaited them. Their eyes couldn't seem to find the end of it because it stretched for miles and miles.

Just looking at this made them realize how dangerous and long it would take to find Kagome. They could die out there and no one would notice. They could become lost for days and there would be no way of getting help.

Deep down everyone knew she was worth the risk, but Toboe's heart sank to he stomach. He really wanted to go back to the way things were and getting Kagome back was the only way this could happen.

"Kiba?" came the voice of Cheza who was being carried on said wolves back. He turned his head slightly and waited for her to continue. "Can you let me down?"

Obeying her request, Kiba let go of her legs and felt her slide off of him. The group watched as she walked in front of them and closed her eyes.

"What is she doing?" asked Hige curiously. Cheza could be very confusing some times.

Tsume stuck his hands in his packets and tapped the tip of his toes on the ground in an irritated fashion. "How the hell should I know?"

Without any warning Cheza began to hum. It startled the group at first, making them think she was going to put them to sleep, but after a few moments they realized it was a melody the group had never heard before.

The sound vibrated off of Cheza's whole being, seeming to travel miles and miles away from the group. It even surrounded the group and they became intimately aware of how far she was away from them. If they weren't able to see her, this sensation would help them pinpoint exactly where she stood.

Once the humming began to die down, she started to glow slightly. Lifting her head up, her pink hair fell away from her face, eyes still closed.

Slowly, Kiba stepped forward, "Cheza…"

As the group looked on at the sight, Cheza's head fell forward somewhat, the glow disappearing altogether. She brought her right arm up and away from her body and pointed slightly east from where they stood. "That way. Kagome is that way," she whispered before taking in a deep breath and slowly releasing it. Acting as if nothing happened, Cheza found herself on Kiba's back again, traveling in the direction she had pointed in.

She turned her head towards Hige who had called out to her. "How did you do that?" She really was a mystery.

Sadly, the only response he got was a shrug of her shoulders and a smile.

* * *

There was a knock on the door and the woman at her desk looked up, "Come in."

The door opened slowly, revealing a soldier. "There's someone her to see you professor." At the end of his statement, the soldier stepped aside revealing another man. He looked pretty beat up, but his expression was determined.

Cher stood up and walked to the front of her desk, slightly leaning against it before she crossed her arms over her chest, "Who are you?"

The man walked further into the room, shutting the door behind him. "My name is Hojo and I am a soldier who is working for you."

Unconsciously Cher raised her eyebrow. "Well, what brings you here Hojo?"

Previous to her statement, Hojo's face was determined but there was no emotion in his eyes. Now, fierceness burned in them when his eyes locked with hers. "My friend was taken by wolves. I want to get her back."

At the mention of 'wolves' Cher's face lit up.

* * *

OO Chapter 19 already! This is probably one of the fastest updates I've done in a while. I hope you like it, and please tell me what you thought! I'm really looking forward to reaching 500 reviews, which I am getting really close to. Thank you all so much for your support throughout the years. I myself cant believe I have been writing this story for two years.

Anyway, I have a new story, **First Love**. Its set in Alternate Universe and it's a Kagome/Youko pairing! Please check it out! You wont be disappointed, and if you are, tell me what you think could improve the story.

Thank you all so much!

Dark Paine


	20. Unwelcome

"As if to be purified,

the world will be encased in ice

so that it can return to the beginning once more.

Paradise is a world that is opened by someone..."

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Twenty- Unwelcome**

Looking out the large window always made Darcia think. Usually when he looked out this window he thought for hours.

But not this time.

He knew exactly what he wanted and where to get it. He would get his prize today; there was no need to prolong the inevitable anymore. Plus, it was getting rather boring.

Mind set, Darcia turned with a smirk, revealing wolf like fangs. "I'm coming for you…my Flower Maiden."

* * *

The blond haired woman walked down the hall alongside the man who had come into her office earlier. He had put on his uniform before they began walking out of the building they had found days ago.

This was her chance to get Cheza back, thought Cher as she remembered the conversation she had prior. She wouldn't lose this chance and from the information Hojo had told her, she was one hundred percent sure they would find Cheza. This way, she could also hit two birds with one stone.

If Cheza and Hojo's friend were in that group, they would be able to retrieve both…unless something went wrong of course.

With fierce determination Cher stepped out of the building to gaze upon two huge automobiles that could carry at least twenty-five soldiers in them full and ready to go.

A man jogged up to her, also in uniform, "We're all ready to go whenever you are professor."

Pulling out one of her inventions that could track Cheza, she held it up, waiting for it to lock on the target, a smile lit up her face when it finally did.

Shifting back to the soldier Cher said, "We are going to head east from here. Move out."

* * *

They were running again, but this time they felt like they had an endless amount of energy. Almost nothing could stop them as they ran through the barren land.

But that thought disappeared in the wind when the sound of a noble airship could be heard.

The group immediately stopped and covered their ears, grinding their teeth together in pain.

"What the **hell**?" yelled Tsume as he tried to block out the sound.

Toboe was already bent on the ground; the pain was too much for his young body. "Make it stop! It hurts!" It felt like his head was going to explode.

The wind began to pick up, effectively coating the group with dirt and pelting them with rocks. Scratches were rapidly formed on all of their bodies; some rocks even ripped through their clothes.

Kiba had already set Cheza down and was now protecting her from whatever was coming at them with his body, his own hands shielding his face.

Before they could say anymore, the wind died down and so did the noise.

"What just happened?" asked Hige as he looked ahead. He couldn't _see _anything…

An evil laugh could be heard from behind the group. Quickly turning in its direction, the pack moved to make a shield of bodies around Cheza.

Kiba began to growl, the other followed suit instinctively.

Darcia stepped out of his airship, eyes directly going to Cheza who flinched. "I'm so glad you've kept my flower in one piece since I've been away," came his voice. Darcia silently relished in the packs response.

Tsume flexed his claws, bearing his fangs simultaneously, "Where's Kagome?" he barked. Looking at this monster made Tsume want to rip every limb from his body. The smirk he received didn't help either.

"If you must know, she's doing fine." He paused before continuing, "She is rather beautiful when she sleeps…"

The statement almost sent the group off the edge. The hairs on the back of their necks rose, fangs in full views as they readied themselves for anything.

Darcia smirked once again. "There's no need to fight. I just came here for the flower." He held his hand out and beckoned Cheza to come to him with it.

She turned away from Darcia's intense gaze and wrapped her arms around herself. Her body started to become ridden with fear; it had been a long time since she had gazed upon that intimidating eye.

Having had enough, Kiba let down his disguise and ran at Darcia. "You can't have her!" he shouted as he leapt into the air, claws ready to rip him apart.

He was within inches of reaching Darcia when he was suddenly shot back by a light from the airship. It seemed like he was in the air for hours until he hit the ground close to the group, body steaming from how painful and hot the attack was.

Cheza let out a scream, eyes starting to cloud up with tears.

The sound Cheza made triggered both Tsume and Hige to go after Darcia with no hesitation. They were both successful in dodging the attacks from the airship until Hige miss stepped and was hit, transporting him into the air and falling unconscious when he hit the ground with a bone-cracking thud.

Another scream was ripped from Cheza's pink lips. Even though her connection to wolves was not as strong as the connection she had with Kagome, she could still feel some of the pain they felt and watching it first hand did not ease the pain.

Tsume meanwhile kept going, looking Darcia dead on. In the blink of an eye, Tsume was the next to get shot with the painful laser like weapon from the airship. His body plunged into the ground, coming to a stop many feet away from where he once was. He tried to move but found it impossible and his eyelids started to become heavy. The lurking darkness was starting to consume him, but he remembered his promise to himself. He would protect Kagome, if not now, then the next time he and Darcia came face to face. He would make sure to kill him. The darkness then consumed him.

Only Toboe and Cheza were left now.

Glancing at his fallen comrades, Toboe started to become uncertain whether or not he was be able to protect Cheza. He wasn't as strong as the others and if they were dropping like flies then how was he supposed to make a difference?

But…this guy had Kagome…and now he wanted Cheza.

He looked over his shoulder at Cheza who was on the ground holding her head with her hands and crying uncontrollably.

He shook his head and braced himself as he heard footsteps coming towards him. They had been reduced to this. The strongest were unable to help and now Toboe, the weakest link, was the only one left. What had he done wrong to deserve this?

He started to growl, somehow trying to work up the courage to protect Cheza. 'I have to do _something_!' His eyes were closed tightly as his breathing increased.

The moment Toboe opened his eyes, he too was shot with the laser, and the wind was the only thing carrying him. He was knocked out before he moved an inch away from Cheza.

Cheza's eyes widened, tears falling freely from her eyes. "Stop…please stop…" It didn't matter if she was to leave with Darcia now. This had to stop.

He didn't argue, instead he looked down at her, expression emotionless, "Let's go." He turned to start walking back towards the airship. He had done everything he had planned to do and now that it was completed, there was nothing else to do but leave.

"Don't go…Cheza!" Stopped his retreat. Movement out of the corner of his right eye caught his attention. It was that annoying white wolf. Didn't that fool know when to quit? Darcia raised his eyebrows as he watched Kiba struggle to get up.

"Cheza, don't go!" gasped Kiba before he made his way to his feet. He stared at her, eyes pleading.

When Cheza did not say anything in return, Kiba's gaze went to Darcia who was looking at him, amusement clearly written on his face.

Moving fast on his feet, Kiba once again darted at Darcia, a fierce growl rising from the back of his throat loudly.

Darcia shifted his whole body to face Kiba, "Cheza is **mine.**"

Without notice, Kiba was struck with another serge of energy, sending his body painfully into the ground.

"Kiba!" cried Cheza as she watched his form spin in mid air then crash into the ground before he stopped. Tears poured out of Cheza's eyes as she staggered to reach Kiba. The pain she was feeling was almost becoming unbearable. She kneeled down beside him, quickly stroking his fur with her hands," Kiba…" she called desperately.

He slowly opened one eye. "Don't…go," he whispered only moments before his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Her breath hitched in her throat. She buried her face into his fur. "This one wants to stay…"

But she knew she couldn't. It was her time to go. She had been happy with these wolves, but she would have to leave to save them.

Looking at Kiba once more she bent to give him a kiss, silently saying 'thank you.' She stroked the top of his head willingly until she realized she could do no more but to stand up and Darcia. As she headed towards the ship, she stopped at all the wolves, stroking their fur before saying a silently 'good-bye' and 'thank you'.

When she was done she soon found herself in the airship. Her mind became blank other than the silent hope that they wolves would come for her.

* * *

It felt like days had passed previous to when Kiba opened his eyes. Unlike the last time he was injured, it didn't hurt so much to move and he sat up. Looking around, he noticed both Hige and Tsume were up and watching him wordlessly. Toboe was asleep near Tsume.

Everyone was scratched up but not to the point where it was life threatening. The thought of Cheza healing him coming to Kiba's mind answered his thought. She must have done it to everyone.

Not even bothering to wipe the dirt from his body, Kiba stalked over to the others and gently sat down again. "Did you bring us here?"

Tsume nodded but didn't make eye contact.

Silence.

Kiba noticed the refreshing scent of flowers was not present. His heart ached somewhat. "She's gone, isn't she?" he whispered.

The lack of reply only made Kiba's nightmare reality. He had failed to protect someone that meant a lot to him…again. Pushing those thought away Kiba nodded "When Toboe gets up we're going to head out. Until then, rest and regain your energy."

Both Tsume and Hige abided by Kiba's light command and fell asleep. They had used up all of their energy carrying Kiba and Toboe to this place, which was miles away from where they were attacked.

Only being able to see four bodies of the remaining pack made Kiba think of the other two. The pack had lost them both and neither of them was saved.

What was the use of a pack when you couldn't even protect the members in it?

* * *

The sounds of footsteps awoke Tsume from his light slumber. Opening one eye he noticed that the rest of the pack was wide-awake but no one moved.

Stretching his arms above his head he rose to his feet and headed towards the doors of the large abandoned shelter they were in.

Once the doors were open and there was no sign of danger he gave the others the 'okay', the rest of the pack got up and headed out once again. Maybe he was just hearing things?

They raveled maybe ten minutes before they saw a figure in front of them. The person turned around, revealing a slender woman with short hair that fit nicely with her blue eyes and pink lips. Her outfit consisted of a long coat that had a belt around the middle, a pink scarf around her neck and boots that went past her knees to mid thigh.

Hige started to drool while the group could only stare at her, not knowing who she was,

She was the first to speak. "Where is the girl with pink hair? Isn't she will you?" she asked. One of her hands rested on her hip while the other was relaxed by her side. Her voice was not demanding but light. Hige found her voice rather delightful.

The wind changed direction and Tsume was able to get a whiff of her scent. It seemed rather familiar, like he had caught the same scent once but lost it. He growled a little. "Who are you?"

She seemed reluctant to answer at first when their gazes met but she did so anyway. "My name is Blue."

Tsume's growl became dangerously loud. He moved one inch towards her so he could rip her head off but Hige grabbed him, holding him back before he could. "You little bitch! I knew it was you from your disgusting scent!" He tried to punch Hige out of the way, but porky had a rather tight grip on him.

A young pair of eyes turned to look at Tsume. "What are you talking about Tsume?" What reason did Tsume have to lash out at this woman? Maybe she was from Tsume's past because Toboe couldn't recall encountering her through their travels.

Tsume's hands flexed repeatedly as he locked eyes with Blue. "I'm surprised you don't recognize the scent Toboe. That's the bitch who tried to kill Kagome."

The group froze; Toboe was rooted to the spot. This woman before him was the one that caused Kagome all of her pain.

Blue averted her gaze. Her eyes seemed to become sad. "I wanted to apologize…I wouldn't have if I had known…"

Tsume smirked, his thirst for her blood was written all over his face. "But you did because you're a disgusting house pet. You'll listen to whatever that old man tells you to do because you can't think for yourself. You have no business to ask us where Cheza is." He stopped for a moment but then his eyes widened and he continued. "Kagome told us about an old man with a dog who killed her family when we first met her. And you know what? I bet you're the one who's caused her so much pain. I've never heard of a man searching for wolves with a dog until I came across you. I don't care if you are half-wolf, I swear I'm going to **kill **you!"

His words made Blue remember what had happened so long ago. He was right, she had been the one to kill that girls family and she would have killed Kagome if she hadn't of gotten away. The only thing she could feel was regret. "You're right. I am a house pet," she agreed. She turned and started walking away, not even able to say that she had helped kill the girls' family.

When Hige let go of Tsume, the gray wolf was sure he was going to rip her apart but Kiba stopped him. "Don't. Save your energy for later. We still need to get Kagome and Cheza back." Kiba's thoughts were way ahead of Tsume's but he was barely able to keep calm. He too wanted to take revenge for Kagome and her family but even in the state he was in now, he couldn't. He would be going up against someone who was at their best and this was also Kagome's battle, not theirs.

They shouldn't waste anymore time.

"I'm going to go after her."

The statement brought Kiba's attention to Hige.

"Although she hurt Kagome and caused her a great deal of pain its only because that old man told her and she did apologize. Plus, we could really use her help."

Tsume exploded and punched Hige in the face. "Is this some kind of sick joke porky! Didn't you hear **anything **I just said? She hurt Kagome and _killed _her family!" This fucking idiot only cared that it was a female and nothing else.

"Are you insane Hige?" asked Toboe softly. He was shaking with anger. "Don't you even care that she caused Kagome, someone we've been traveling with for a long time and care about, pain?"

Holding his jaw tenderly, Hige glared at Tsume and Toboe. He too was disappointed in himself for not taking that into consideration but…"Its better than having just the four of us! She can really come in hand if we get into fights!"

"And we know this because of the damage that was done to Kagome," said Toboe, turning away from the group but more importantly because of the hatred he felt towards Hige.

Not bothering to look at the collard wolf Kiba said, "We're leaving. Whether you and that half-breed want to join us depends if you can catch up with us or not." He started to head east followed by Toboe and Tsume (not until Tsume was able to give Hige one of the meanest glares possible) but stopped. "If she does come with you, you are responsible for her and we'll leave her fate up to Kagome when we find her," finished Kiba who walked away from Hige.

With a sudden burst of vigor Hige set out to find Blue.

* * *

It hadn't taken long to find her scent which lead into a small town nearby the shelter they had been in. He found her standing on the bridge, sun setting behind her. He knew this was wrong but they needed all the help they could get. He just knew she would help them later on. His life depended on it. If he were wrong, the pack would surely kill him.

He walked up beside her and leaned on the railing of the bridge.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

He turned to lean his back against the bar. "I want you to come back with me and join our pack," stated Hige simply, as if nothing happened moments ago.

"Your pack wont accept me. I've caused your friend too much damage. Besides," she looked at him, "I only followed your pack because that girl was in it."

Hige tilted his head, "You mean Cheza?" he asked curiously.

She nodded her head. "She found me in an alleyway and healed me with her touch," Blue closed her eyes trying to remember the feeling. "It was rather pleasant…she was the one to tell me I was part wolf too."

It was Cheza who had confirmed Blue's thoughts of being part wolf. Being able to put up a disguise while other dogs couldn't always had Blue wondering, especially how much her strength differed from that of a regular dog's.

They were silent for a few moments; only the sound of the wind blowing past could be heard. Hige broke the silence, "So why exactly did you attack Kagome and her family?"

Blue rested her head in her arms. She really didn't want to remember the experience but she knew she should give him an answer. "I did it because my old man told me to. There's no other reason." It was pathetic and she knew the male in his pack was right and so it felt bad to say these words. She really was a house pet.

When Hige saw her whole body somewhat sink into itself he decided to do something. "Come on, let's go," urged Hige. He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her along with him but she wouldn't budge.

"Why should I go with you?" Blue said, obviously irritated. What was wrong with him? Didn't he know his pack hated her, wanted her dead?

Hige's face became soft. "Because I want you to come. Although I don't accept what you did either, you apologized. There is nothing more you can do. If you want to be forgiven help us get Kagome and Cheza! They've both been captured and we need to hurry before it's too late. I know that you can show the pack you really mean what you said; you just have to convince them. It's not like you have anywhere else to go."

Although his words somewhat comforted her, she still felt horrible. They would never trust her and she knew especially the girl would never forgive her.

When Blue looked away Hige took this advantage to pull her along with him.

Even though she wanted to stop him, she couldn't find the strength to. Deep down, she really wanted to be forgiven. Her love for the old man was the cause of her actions. She had done everything he had asked of her and never thought twice about it.

But now, she whished she could take it all back.

* * *

They met up with the others in the middle of the night. There was no 'Welcome back!' from anyone once they saw Blue, only nasty stares. 

That night the pack was divided for the first time.

* * *

I hoooope this is a long chapter for everyone! Okay, so there will only be four more chapters to this story! THANK GOD! Then I can work on 'First Love'. I really like that story; it's a lot of fun to write! I would have had this chapter out sooner if I hadn't lost power for SEVEN hours! XD

But anyway, please tell me what you thought!


	21. Execution

"As if to be purified,

the world will be encased in ice

so that it can return to the beginning once more.

Paradise is a world that is opened by someone..."

A Wolf's Cry

**Warning Graphic Violence and Death.**

**Chapter Twenty-One - ****Execution**

The next morning the group set out in silence but only after Tsume rudely bumped into Blue with his shoulder as he passed by. If that half-breed was going to travel with them Tsume would make sure it was hell for her. He still held a grudge against her but he didn't act on anything because of what Kiba said.

As they ran, the group was divided yet again. Toboe, Kiba, and Tsume traveled in the front. They wouldn't let Hige or Blue near them. When Tsume thought Blue was getting too close, he would sometimes snap at her. So instead of trying to get hurt, the remaining two were left to follow at a safe distance.

They still traveled in the same direction Cheza had pointed in at a steady pace so that the pack wouldn't get tired as fast as if they ran at full speed. This journey needed to be over as soon as possible. They all wanted to get to Paradise and away from the humans and this disgusting place.

Tsume, who had been running next to Kiba, turned to the white wolf and said, "Let's rest for a little." It was beginning to get dark and they had been running all day. He was probably the only one to notice.

Not saying a word, Kiba slowed down until he came to a complete stop, followed by the group. Puffs of smoke could be seen coming from the wolves' mouths because of how cold the weather had gotten.

Hige plopped down on the ground ungracefully. "Man I'm tired!" he huffed loudly. He was starting to regret how much he ate and whished he was more athletic.

Blue easily sat next to him, not saying a word but letting Hige use some of her body heat to stay warm. She didn't dare look at anything but the ground. She knew her place and the only reason she was her was to try to be forgiven and for Hige. There wasn't really a reason to communicate with the others. If she even tried she would probably be rejected anyway.

Meanwhile, Toboe was trotting around, head held high in the air. He really was full of energy but he stopped abruptly, ears perked, tail in the air when he felt a cool sensation on his nose. Opening his eyes he saw tiny snowflakes falling from the sky. "Hey! Look Tsume! It's snowing!" Toboe said happily before opening his mouth to eat the defenseless snowflakes.

Tsume looked at Toboe, the pup looked alive and happy. He actually looked like a pup, jumping around as if there was nothing to worry about and eating snowflakes. Tsume couldn't help but slightly grin, making sure no one saw. Then he rolled his eyes previous to looking up into the sky.

The others raised their heads and watched the first snowfall of the season. It was rather beautiful and it felt good to just soak it in for a couple of minutes.

Kiba stood, shaking the snow from his body. "We should get going again." The pack had rested long enough in his opinion but he still heard a groan from Hige.

The collard wolf shut his mouth with one glare from Tsume.

They were off again and no more than thirty minutes into their steady pace did the snowfall rapidly increase and become larger in size. The wind had also picked up greatly causing the group to be reduced to walking at a slow pace.

"I can't see anything with this god damn snow!" yelled Tsume furiously. He glanced at Toboe who was sticking close to him, trying to use him as a shield from the snow somewhat. They were also keeping each other warm at the same time.

Both Hige and Blue stood close to each other, still walking as safe distance from everyone else. They both kept each other warm as they walked but it took a moment for Hige to notice the warmth he had felt before was now missing.

He stopped, turned around and saw Blue standing as still as a rock. Her ears were perked and she was staring attentively at the ground.

Squinting his eyes as to try and avoid the snow from bothering them, Hige yelled to Blue, "What's wrong?"

She didn't answer him immediately but rather kept still with a confused expression on her face. After another moment passed her head shot up. "The ground…it's shaking."

Her statement caused the pack to stop their pursuit and turn to her.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kiba. He hadn't felt anything.

But when the words left his mouth, they all felt the slight tremor beneath their paws. It seemed to grow with each passing moment and eventually the wolves' bodies were rattled along with the ground.

A light suddenly shot at their faces, blinding them as the tremor died down.

"What the hell!" Tsume growled, squeezing his eyes shut. Could these days get _any_ better? Even though Tsume liked action, this was starting to become too much.

They heard a heavy metal door open and the sounds of strong footsteps filled their ears. Then the light turned off, letting the wolves open their eyes to gaze upon what they had gotten themselves into.

They were surrounded by armed soldiers and one woman stood before them. Her form was very confident and she looked slightly irritated but determined at the same time.

"Where is Cheza?" she demanded.

The pack began to growl and in response the soldiers aimed their guns. Only half of the men that were supposed to be here were. They had lost contact with the other vehicle in the storm. They must have crashed or gotten stuck somewhere but Cher's team did not even bother to look for them.

Narrowing her eyes, Cher didn't back down to the glares she received from the animals. The fact that she had twenty-five soldiers there to protect her helped a bit also. "I know you can speak! Where is Cheza?"

A man next to her stepped forward, aiming his gun at the pack. "Where is Kagome?"

Toboe's ears' picked up. Where had he known Kagome? Were they related or something?

Kiba's eyes shot to Cher before turning to the man. Who were these people to come and demand where Cheza and Kagome were? What the hell was their problem? Did it look like they knew where they were?

Kiba studied the man. It was that human who had been alone with Kagome. Was his name Hojo? Kiba didn't know nor did he care. The white wolf's growl increased. "We don't know."

Hojo fired a warning shot dangerously close to where the pack stood. "You're lying!" His voice was almost becoming desperate. After traveling for hours they had finally caught up to this pack and neither Kagome nor Cheza were even here. They hadn't killed them did they? If that were the case, Hojo would make sure they wouldn't leave here.

"So you're not going to tell us?" asked Cher, crossing her arms under her breasts.

No response.

"Then we'll have to scare it out of you then."

With that, the swarm of soldiers opened fire on them, but not with the intention to kill. Like Cher said, they would only scare them a bit.

Immediately the pack was huddled into a circle, bullets flying all around them, some even kicking snow up onto their paws.

"What are we going to do?" asked Toboe shakily. He was crouched slightly and his eyes were desperately trying to follow the bullets so he would be ready to dodge them but it was very difficult.

Tsume hissed. "All these humans rely on are weapons. They really think this crap will make us remember where we _don't _know where Kagome is?" These idiots were ridiculous.

Cher held up her hand and the shooting stopped. "Are you going to tell us now?"

Before she could say anymore, a shot went off followed by a cry.

Everyone froze and time seemed to promptly slow down.

Tsume's eyes widened as the source of heat next to him disappeared. Thoughts raced through his brain as he turned slowly, heart racing.

It…it couldn't be…

All he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears and nothing else.

He stared at Toboe who lay on the ground, a hole through his chest, his blood beginning to soak the pure white snow. The red liquid that pooled from the pups body mesmerized Tsume. His world stopped; his eyes began to burn.

This couldn't be…

"I…I didn't-" stuttered Hojo as he stared at the steam from the tip of his gun. He began to shake when his gaze met the gray wolf's head on.

Tsume had turned to the annoying sound that belonged to that scum whose gun was still hot from the shot. Rage boiled in Tsume and his mind became blank.

"You bastard!" Nothing mattered to Tsume in the moment in which he ran at the soldier. Getting to this human that polluted the earth and who had killed Toboe did.

Toboe was a young wolf that loved everything and anything. Why? Why now? Why was his life taken before they could get to Kagome? He wanted to see her the most and now he would never lay eyes on her again. He deserved to live until he was old and crippled; not die in his youth.

No words could describe how blood thirsty Tsume became once he reached Hojo. The human didn't even have time to say a word before Tsume grabbed him by the throat and big down until his neck snapped, blood squirting all over his body. Tsume paid no attention to it.

Hojo was killed instantly, only seeing red before passing. Although the man was dead, Tsume didn't stop. He ripped apart Hojo's face with his teeth violently. He tore his arms from his body without any second thought and continued to thrash at the humans appendages and chest until there was barely anything left.

Tsume was covered in blood when his eyes met Cher's. Her mouth hung open and she was consumed with fear. She frantically tried to search for a weapon in her coat but found none.

Tsume chuckled, mouth open slightly to breath, blood dripping from his mouth. "You stupid, _stupid_ bitch."

* * *

The group gazed upon Toboe's still body while Tsume ran at Toboe's killer. They were all shocked. 

This wasn't real, it couldn't be. This was just another one of their twisted imaginations playing with them. Toboe was actually all right. He would get up from this and start to jump around happily in the snow like he had done so before…right?

Hige's disbelieving eyes bore down at Toboe. The runt couldn't be dead. He just couldn't.

But Toboe wasn't moving.

The shooting soon began again. Bullets were flying through the air and they could somewhat hear the sounds of the guns going off in the background but they were still shocked. As soon as Kiba realized what was happening around them, he was the first to react, breaking away from their little circle before both Blue and Hige followed suit.

In a matter of moments Kiba took out two soldiers without any effort. With each man he killed he saw Toboe's body lying cold and motionless. His fury rose and he began to growl nonstop.

These men would all die for coming here and for taking Toboe away from them.

A man rushed at Kiba and was able to get a hold of his face while another took aim behind him. Kiba started to thrash but he couldn't brake away but when the second man tried to shoot he suddenly fell to the ground dead, revealing Blue.

Their gazes locked for a moment until Kiba found the strength to brake free and kill the human who had taken a hold of his face.

Another soldier wrapped his arms around Blue's neck, raising her up in the air slightly and choking her. A swift strike from Blue's elbow got the man to let go of Blue before she turned and stabbed him in the chest with her claws. She dug her claws in until he gasped from pain, then with her other hand, she swiped her claws across his face, leaving sever gashes. She let him fall helplessly to the ground like a rag doll to meet another soldier head on. She quickly killed him by slitting his throat.

Hige meanwhile was taking care of the soldiers around him swiftly. The only injury he received was maybe a bruise from a punch but that was all. The man hadn't lived long enough to do much more.

The pack fought mercilessly until no soldier was left and the snow was stained red all around them.

* * *

They stood around Toboe's body covered in blood, some was theirs but the majority was not. The wind had not died down one bit so it was still whipping their fur around. 

Tsume nudged Toboe's head with his own desperately. "Wake up," he urged softly, his eyes becoming hot again, throat starting to itch. He licked Toboe's face. "Please."

Hige could barely see. Tears were flowing from his eyes freely. "Come on runt! Get up!"

The pack stared at Toboe intently, watching to see any movement. If he would just twitch somewhat the pack would be grateful.

But not one limp in his body shifted.

"He's really gone…" whispered Hige. His breath caught in his throat and he seemed to hiccup as he tried to breath. Blue was softly nuzzling him with her head to try and consol him. She hadn't spoken.

Tsume turned to Hige. "Don't say that!" The words left his mouth venomously. He turned back to the fallen pup. "Toboe! Stop playing around and get up!" Slight trails of tears were making it down Tsume's face and he jerked his head angrily to dispose of the tears. He shouldn't let the pack see him like this. His pride would be destroyed.

But he just couldn't seem to will himself to stop. His eyes didn't leave Toboe; they were focused on his being, watching for the moment for Toboe to get up and continue their journey but he never did.

He had traveled with Toboe for a long time and they both wanted to complete this journey together but now…now only one of them would.

Why couldn't the humans' aim have been slightly off and hit him? Why couldn't his life be taken instead of Toboe's? All these thought angered Tsume to a point where he shoved his face under Toboe's and just stayed like that as his body jerked from trying to hold his sadness back.

He wanted Toboe to stay with him.

Only the sound of the snow falling could be heard. Raising his head, Kiba released a sad howl into the wind as Tsume mourned the death of Toboe.

He didn't stop Blue or Hige from joining in.

* * *

Darcia carried Cheza to the room in which Kagome also resided in. Cheza's capsule was set and ready for her so he wasted no time whatsoever placing her in, shutting the capsule then letting it fill with a sparkly green liquid. Some Lunar flowers floated around her. 

The only thing that held her up were loose chains around her wrists and neck. There was no need to worry about the flower maiden; this capsule was only mean to help preserve her until the time to open Paradise came. The Lunar flowers that surrounded her would also help her to stop aging as fast as she did without them.

Turning to the large computer, Darcia set his plans in opening Paradise into motion.

* * *

It had taken a while for the group to leave Toboe but when they did, they became empty and tired. A huge part of their pack had been taken away from them and they all knew they would never get it back. 

Tsume staggered a bit before finding his feet. He was hit the hardest by Toboe's death. That pup was the closest thing he had and now he was gone.

Unconsciously, the group walked together in a line, not being divided for the first time. Tusme didn't say a word to Blue about how close to the pack she was and that she didn't belong. He was drained and didn't have the energy.

They walked through the storm almost lifelessly, letting the wind push them around as the blood on their full that was still wet dripped from their bodies.

It seemed as if they walked for ages until a very familiar scent caught Blue's attention. She suddenly broke from the group to run ahead.

"Blue, wait for me!" Hige called as he ran after her.

Kiba and Tsume both looked at each other with blank expressions. They mutually agreed to pick up their paces somewhat to follow. It didn't take long to catch up and when they did, they found the female wolf sniffing at a large pile of snow.

"What's wrong?" asked Kiba. There was no feeling in his voice, nor was there care. The words seemed to come out as a natural reaction.

Not bothering to answer, Blue pushed snow away from the lump with her face and began to quiver, but not from the cold weather.

She gazed down sadly at his frozen body, only to collapse when she realized he would never be alive to see them reunited. "It's my old man."

* * *

Well this chapter was finished last night and now it's typed. Only another three chapters to go! And then the story is finished! Ahahah. So yea lots of violence and action, I hoped everyone like it! I feel bad for Toboe's death but this is the beginning of the end. 

Anyway, Please tell me what you thought!

I also set up a livejournal account which can be found in my profile. Its for anyone who wants to know progression on chapters or to see a sneak peak of upcoming chapters. If you wish to friend me, that's great! I'll pretty much friend everyone:D


	22. Bond

"As if to be purified,

the world will be encased in ice

so that it can return to the beginning once more.

Paradise is a world that is opened by someone..."

A Wolf's Cry

**Warning Graphic Violence.**

Chapter Twenty-Two - Bond

Seeing her old man frozen to death in the snow ripped at Blue's heart. She had always planned on meeting up with him again somehow but now that would be impossible.

All of her memories of the old man when she was a pup came rushing back.

He had been tough on her in the beginning but after time, they had grown to love each other. She had been found by the old man's son and was only able to stay with the family after much begging. They were the only people she knew and loved. That was how her life began.

Her early life was filled with happiness and safety. She would play with the old man's son for hours out in the field until nightfall. Then they would come home to eat and sit by the fire as a family: the old man, his wife, their son, and Blue. For the first time since Blue's existence, she experienced what it meant to be a family and to be loved. They were _her_ family and they were together until the day when they were torn apart.

A fire had somehow caught in their house and the only ones who had survived were she and Quent. He had said he'd seen wolves in the fire and that was the day he pledged that he would kill ever wolf that existed.

Of course Blue helped him; he was her only family. They fought together and cried together…but now his pledge had finally come to an end. She would love this old fool until the day she died even though she knew she was half wolf; the race her old man had set out to destroy.

Resting her head against the cave wall, Blue shed her last tear before drifting off to sleep.

00000

Finding this cave was only pure luck. The storm was raging and unyielding and the pack was going on there second day being stuck in here. Even with the cave's shelter the pack was freezing.

Kiba, however, was anxious. He hated the fact they were stranded here. As if it was a natural reaction, he began to pace.

Tsume, who had been shivering silently, took notice to Kiba's movements and growled. "Will you stop pacing?" He didn't bother to look up.

Kiba turned to him angrily. "Why are we just sitting here! Kagome and Cheza could be dead by now or who knows what! Don't you even care?"

Tsume's teeth clenched and his mouth turned into a snarl. He knew how much Kiba wanted to see Cheza and Kagome but he didn't need to act like a fool. "If I didn't care I would be here!" he barked. "What good will it do to go out in the storm now and have everyone freeze to death?"

Kiba stopped his pacing and looked out of the cave. He couldn't see anything other than snow but it didn't scare him at all. "I'm leaving."

Hige whipped his head in Kiba's direction, ceasing his gentle strokes on the sleeping Blue. "Are you crazy?" You'll just get yourself killed!"

His comment went on deaf ears and everyone knew it.

Tsume stood abruptly, seeing how serious Kiba was staring out into the storm. "You idiot! You can't be serious!"

The only thing Kiba did was turn his head in the gray wolf's direction and then he raced out of the cave.

"Kiba!" yelled Tsume after the white wolf's retreating form. He was such an _idiot_. Why could he **never** stop to think things through? He always had to run and do something careless.

Running out in the middle of a snowstorm by yourself would be a perfect example.

From the back of the cave, Tsume could hear Hige's voice ask, "Do you think we should go after him?"

Shifting away from the entrance, Tsume sat back down where he had been and curled into himself. "If you want to commit suicide then go right ahead, but I'm not. That fool wants to get himself killed. At least I'll be around to save Cheza and Kagome."

Hige's eyes lingered on Tsume until he dropped his head and stared at Blue's sleeping form. His face softened. "I know if Toboe were here, he would want us to go after him." His voice shook slightly when he said the pups' name. It was still a very sensitive subject to everyone. This was actually the first time anyone had said anything about Toboe.

Tsume growled again, body becoming tense as he fought with himself. Once again he stood up, "Wake her up, we're leaving."

00000

Kiba had only run for an hour or so when the weather had gotten even harsher, causing him to trudge through the accumulating snow face down. Being alone out in the middle of a snowstorm gave Kiba's stomach an unpleasant feeling.

He tried his best to ignore it but it didn't go away but he wouldn't let himself show it even if no one was around him. His pride was more important to him than pretty much anything. _Almost_ anything.

He stopped his pursuit in favor of letting the snowy wind surround his body to let it numb him. Both whispered in the winder and the white wolf barely caught it.

"_Kiba_…"

Whipping his head in the direction he saw the outline of a figure. For some reason he didn't become threatened. He became peaceful. The familiar scent that radiated off of the figure caught his nose and his eyes widened as the figure came into view.

It was Kagome in her human disguise looking at him with sadness in her eyes.

"Kagome?" asked Kiba gently.

Her face turned from side to side, never meeting his gaze.

"Kiba where are you?" Her words were frantic and shaky and Kiba rushed over to her.

"Kagome! I'm right here!" he yelled it as loud as he could but she didn't look directly at him.

Instead her gaze was searching everywhere. Why couldn't she see him? He could see her as plain as day; surely she could see him too.

He seemed to have reached her but her figure suddenly moved away from him rapidly. "Kagome!" he yelled again and continued after her. Kiba continued to run but he soon realized that no matter how fast he ran he could never get to her. She was always _just_ out of reach and he was always at a safe distance from her. Coming to a stop all Kiba could do was catch his breathe while looking on at Kagome's fading figure.

"Kiba!" This time it was a shriek and Kiba felt his heart jump.

He snarled to himself. "Kagome!" he barked again before he mustered every ounce of energy he had left to run after her again. This time he was able to reach her but her body could barely be seen. He could actually see through her.

"Help me Kiba!" she screamed.

He tried to reach her but was stopped when a snow like wave engulfed him. It took a few moments before he was able to breach the surface and he immediately looked around frantically.

She wasn't there anymore. He called out into the wind but there was no answer…nothing. Had he been tricked of had he really failed to save her once again? Letting his head fall into the snow, Kiba closed his eyes to control his anger.

Even as the snow covered his body in a thick coat, Kiba didn't move. He had already become numb to the atmosphere around him. Why did it have to be like this? She was always the one getting into danger and he would always save her.

Getting to Paradise meant everything to Kiba.

But if Kagome wasn't there with him in Paradise…what would be the reason to go then?

"Kiba!" The call was fuzzy and Kiba didn't bother to even lift his head. He was probably hallucinating again.

But then he heard it again…only this time it was right in his ear and followed by a pair of jaws wrapping around his neck to pull him out of the pile of snow that had accumulated on top of him.

"Get up you idiot!" came a rough voice.

Kiba's eyes opened to see three sets of eyes staring right back at him.

"What the hell are you doing? I thought you wanted to save Kagome, not take a nap in the snow," barked Tsume sarcastically.

Standing up, Kiba shook the remaining snow off of his body. "Why are you all here?"

"You thought you would get the credit for saving Kagome all by yourself? I don't think so…" Hige let the last word trail in an almost melodic note.

Tsume stalked over to Kiba. "You think you're the only one what wants to save Kagome don't you? Well here's a reality check buddy, we all want to help get Kagome and Cheza so stop trying to do everything by yourself." His tone was sharp but truthful.

Kiba gazed at the others and realized that he was not the only one in this. They were just as determined as he was to save the missing members and get to Paradise. Maybe he didn't have to do this alone.

"Why are we just standing here like a bunch of idiots? I wanna start moving before I become a live wolf sculpture," said Hige as he moved closer to Blue to stay warm.

Nodding his head, Kiba looked in the direction where he last saw Kagome. He would get to her, he promised to himself silently, and they would **both** go to Paradise together.

00000

After another two or three hours of running the snow finally stopped falling from the sky, leaving behind a couple feet of snow, on the ground. The pack had to hop somewhat to make it through the snow which had slowed down their pace immensely.

"Hey Hige, how much longer do you think it will take to get there?" asked Blue lightly.

For the first time she and Hige traveled in front Tsume and Kiba. She trotted a few feet behind him.

He turned his head to her, not stopping for a moment. "Well I think we-"

And then he was gone. One minute he was clearly visible in front of Blue and the next minute, poof, he was gone.

"Hige!" shrieked Blue as she ran to the spot where he once stood. When she got close a warning signal went off in her head and she quickly stopped.

It was a good thing she did.

If she had taken one more step she would have fallen down a very steep hill. Looking intently down, she tried to find any evidence of brown fur however she couldn't.

She called his name again and focused on any sound.

Tsume and Kiba joined her moments before a large snow pile moved and broke, revealing Hige's head. He gasped for breath and shook the rest of the snow off of his body.

The pounding in Blue's chest stopped and she rushed down the hill with great effort to meet him. "Hige! Are you alright?" she asked, visually checking to see if he was bleeding at all. Thankfully he wasn't.

He shook his whole body once again then turned to her, "I'm fine, just a little shaky. I wasn't exactly expecting that." He gave her a cheeky grin in response to her loud sigh.

"Cant you ever watch where your going porky?" called Tsume who was currently making it down the hill carefully.

Kiba already made it down and stood next to the collard wolf now. "Be careful next time." That was all he said. Nothing more, nothing less. He turned to head in the same direction they were going in but didn't move.

Hige watched his eyes narrow. He glanced in the direction the white wolf was looking in then did a double take.

The snow began to disappear only a few feet away from them until it met dry dirt. That wasn't the only important thing they were looking at.

Hige's jaw dropped. "Is that…is that a castle?"

Tsume squinted his eyes to make the building out clearly. "That must be where Kagome and Cheza are."

The group was frozen in amazement. They finally made it. They were _so_ close.

"We finally make it," whispered Blue.

It was all or nothing now. Their journey to find Kagome and Cheza could be over soon. Expectation and hope filled Kiba before he broke out into a dash.

This was it.

00000

"Lord Darcia?" came a small feminine voice that echoed around the large room.

Said man was sitting by the computer and reading all the information and status on his captives. This was a time when he didn't like to be disturbed.

"What?" was her angry reply.

It sent a shiver down her spine. He could lash out at her at any moment and she barely was able to say what she had come here to. "T-There seems to be something coming towards us."

Darcia stopped reading to look at his servant. "An airship?"

Her gaze fell to the ground, not meeting his intense stare. He usually would be happy that an airship was coming, it would give him a chance to fight someone and if it was anything other than that he would become furious and tell her to never bother him with useless things like that. Sometimes he would even hit her.

And with the information she had to tell him now, she was sure he would hit her.

"N-No. Its coming by land and there is more than one. They aren't showing up as large as an airship would, but rather the size of a large dog."

Darcia pushed himself up from the chair and walked over to his servant. An evil grin appeared on his face and the girl tensed as she waited for the blow to come.

To her surprise, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "This is very _very_ good information. Thank you for telling me. You are dismissed."

Total shock took over the girl but she rushed out of the room not looking back. She was just lucky he didn't hit her.

He walked back to his computer and grinned. "So you've finally come Kiba."

00000

"What kind of a place is this?" asked Hige softly as he observed the castle with some effort. Looking up at the pitch-black castle from the ground put strain on Hige's neck from leaning so far back to see the top of the building.

"Hopefully this is the place where Kagome and Cheza are," stated Kiba, keeping his voice low when he caught sight of a soldier. "It doesn't seem like this place is infested with soldiers but we should still be careful anyway."

The group was lying as low to the ground as they could on the top of a small cliff that over looked the very bottom of the castle. There were many ramps going from tunnels in the ground back to the castle. There were some guards on the ramps but not on all of them.

"We should split up so we don't put the whole group in jeopardy. If we split up, chances of more than one person getting caught are slim to none. It's the safest way," said Tsume who stood up when there were no guards in sight.

"What do we do when we find them?" asked Blue.

"Just howl or something," said Tsume roughly before he jumped onto a ramp not too far away from him and headed into the castle.

Looking to see if everything was still safe and seeing that it was, the rest of the members headed in their own direction to search.

00000

Kiba ran as fast as he could through the twists and turns of the ramps, letting his instinct lead him in the direction of where he hoped Kagome and Cheza were.

No, he _knew_ Kagome and Cheza were here. With each inch of ground he covered, he could feel the pull in his mind strengthen. Everything around him would become fuzzy except the direction in which he could sense Cheza and Kagome.

A warning went off in his head and Kiba stopped abruptly. He ducked into a small crevasse in the wall and waited.

A soldier passed by him, unaware of Kiba's presence and Kiba noticed something different about this one. This one was covered in armor that looked almost impenetrable. _Almost._ There was a small opening at the base of the neck in the back that could kill the man in the armor instantly if it was hit hard enough.

Kiba waited until the soldier was far enough away before he crawled out of the crevasse to continue his search at the same pace he had been traveling at before.

He turned sharply in the direction the path lead and came face to face with a large door. Glancing around he spotted a green button and pressed it. The door opened and he was met with spiral steps that went up. Without having to think twice, he headed up the steps.

He climbed and climbed until he could barely move another step. He didn't stop until he could barely breath, but even then he didn't stop for long. His determination and drive was too strong for him to stop long and the pull in his mind became stronger and stronger.

This truly was it; he could taste the sweet scent of Lunar Flowers on his tongue. A calm came over him, that same calmness he would feel whenever he was around Cheza. He knew then that he would come face to face with them in only moments.

It felt like it had been forever since he had seen either one of them and he couldn't wait. With a new adrenalin rush, Kiba once again began to run up the steps.

And then he finally reached it. The door that radiated with the scent of Lunar Flowers and it seemed to be leaking pink steam.

Kiba… 

It was that voice again, calling him…

Kiba… 

…Kagome's voice.

Kiba… 

The door slowly began to open.

Kiba! 

Steam filled his vision, but it quickly dissipated when the door fully opened. Hesitantly, the white wolf took a few steps in. Once Kiba's eyes were focused he saw him.

Darcia.

The man who had stolen everything from him was standing right there in the middle of two hidden objects.

Darcia smiled evilly. "You've come just in time Kiba. Your precious Lunar Flower and Lunar Wolf will be awakening soon."

Without warning, the two structures that were on either side of Darcia lit up, revealing Cheza and Kagome. Kiba's eyes widened. They were both strapped into large pods by chains. Some sort of sparkly liquid surrounded them.

"What did you do to them?" growled Kiba angrily.

"You'll see." Came Darcia's voice. Kiba could feel the smirk behind his words and it made his skin crawl.

No sooner had he said that did the capsules start to crack and break, a thick coat of steam filling the air once again. The sound of glass shattering echoed all around him, followed by heavy coughing. A painful pulse began to thump in the back of his head.

Kiba yelled into the fog, "Cheza? Kagome?"

There was no reply but when the fog cleared, Kiba could see both of their forms. Cheza lay on the floor motionless while Kagome leaning so far out of the capsule that the only thing that kept her from falling was the chain around her neck and wrists.

After a moment Cheza coughed softly and stirred, and Kiba's eyes shot to her body on the floor. "Cheza!" he called as he ran to her. He was only a few feet away before he was stopped by yet another loud pulse in his head. His gaze drifted to Kagome's slightly twitching body. The chains around her neck and writs suddenly disappeared, letting her body fall painfully to the ground, her human disguise vanishing.

He moved to go to her, but was again stopped, but this time by Darcia's words.

"I wouldn't go near her if I were you."

Kiba's blazing eyes shot towards Darcia. "Why not?"

The arms that had been crossed over his chest fell to Darcia's side. "You'll see in a moment." He nodded towards Kagome.

Kiba's eyes went back to stare at Kagome. He watched as one of her front legs pushed half of her body off the ground somewhat before her other front leg forced the rest of her body up and off the ground.

Her body became tense and she didn't move an inch.

Here she was, right in front of him. All Kiba wanted to do was reach out and do _something_…but he couldn't. His body wouldn't budge. "Kagome?"

At the mention of her name, Kagome began to growl threateningly. She began to flex her claws and snarl. Her body seemed to take on a deep red glow that engulfed her entire body, shielding her from everyone's view while it sent out small shock waves.

_What's going on?_ Thought Kiba to himself. Something didn't seem right.

And then the glow was gone, along with the vibrations, revealing a normal looking Kagome to Kiba.

Her eyes opened slowly to stare daggers at Kiba, whose eyes widened. Her eyes…were a very deep red…like blood.

"Kagome?" asked Kiba with desperation in his voice.

Without notice, Kagome lunged for his neck, fangs bared. Kiba barely had any time to dodge her blow but managed to jump back slightly to avoid it.

She now stood between him and Cheza like a brick wall. The only thing she did was stare at his shocked expression, her face void from any emotion.

Almost immediately, the question of 'Why?' popped up into Kiba's head. What was wrong with her? He looked at her disbelievingly. She had attacked him, and had tried to kill him.

An evil chuckle echoed throughout the room followed by steps. Darcia's figure appeared next to Kagome.

This time, Kiba growled. "What have you **done** to her?"

Darcia lifted his hand and placed it on Kagome's head and began to pet her even when Kiba's growl intensified. "Do you know of the link a Lunar Flower and a Lunar Wolf share?"

"…"

"You disgusting wolves don't know anything do you?" He narrowed his eyes for only a brief second before he continued. "I guess I'll have to explain it then," said Darcia roughly.

He started to walk towards a large window as he began to speak. "A Lunar Flower is only half of the puzzle that is needed to open the gates to Paradise. The other half is the Lunar Wolf.

"Having one without the other will never open the gates to Paradise. To this day Paradise has never been opened. Why? Because Lunar Wolves are –or _were_ extinct. Up until now, no one has ever seen a Lunar Wolf, or has even come in contact with one. The only way anyone has ever heard of one existing is in books."

He paused again once he reached the window. "Once a Lunar Flower and a Lunar Wolf come into contact, a strong bond is instantly formed. It is a much more intimate bond than you or any other plain wolf would share with Cheza but in the beginning, a Lunar Flower's bond with a Lunar Wolf is treated the same as the bond with a plain wolf, but as each day –each moment—passes, that bond becomes stronger and stronger.

"If Kagome were to get hurt now, Cheza would feel the pain from Kagome's wounds ten times more than if a wolf like yourself gets hurt. Sometimes, a wound that is inflicted on Kagome might even show up on Cheza's body also but that almost never happens.

"Cheza would also continue to feel that pain until Kagome is fully healed. To speed up the healing process, Lunar Wolves feed off of other wolves' energy, _your_ energy, so that both she and Cheza can survive. Maybe I should thank you for keeping both Kagome and Cheza alive for me?" he chuckled softly before continuing.

"Lunar Wolves are very complex creatures. If Kagome were at the brink of death, Cheza would be also. If Cheza were to die, Kagome would die instantly and vise-versa. The Lunar Wolf is basically the powerhouse of the two. Lunar Wolves protect the Lunar Flower from any kind of danger. When a Lunar Wolf is hurt, it is their responsibility to get back to perfect health as soon as possible or else the Lunar Flower could die, thus causing the Lunar Wolf's death also. Although the Lunar Flower can somewhat help heal the Lunar Wolf, but it could never exert enough energy to heal the wounds entirely without killing itself in the process.

"If either or both of them are put in any sort of extreme situation, the Lunar Wolf's protective instinct will take over and their eyes will become pink and they will get a surge of power. This happens when there is an almost impenetrable bond.

"But if you look at Kagome's eyes now, they aren't pink, they're bloodshot. This only happens when nothing can brake the bond they have; when they are basically together as one, and when the time to open to gates to Paradise is near. Usually this process takes a while to take full effect, but I decided to speed up the process as well as tweak it a little so that she won't attack me. It is in a Lunar Wolfs' blood to destroy everything around them that might cause harm to the Lunar Flower. The only reason why a Lunar Flower and Lunar Wolf exist is to open Paradise. My Paradise."

Kiba's body was trembling with rage by the time Darcia was done speaking. "You…**_monster_**! How could you use Kagome and Cheza for your own personal gain! Humans are disgusting! Your race only thinks about themselves and nothing around them! You're all blinded by greed!" As he was speaking, Kiba could feel himself loosing control little by little until he couldn't control himself. He ran at Darcia with all the strength he could muster.

To his surprise, the only thing Darcia did was turn to look at him with a smile on his face.

Kiba was sent flying into a wall in the blink of an eye. He landed on the floor hard which knocked the wind right out of him. Surprisingly he didn't feel much pain. Was it because of the adrenalin rush he had? Picking himself up, he came face to face with Kagome who was staring at him hungrily.

She had attacked him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kiba saw Darcia pick Cheza up and he called to her immediately.

She didn't respond.

Instead, Darcia turned in there direction and simply said, "Kill him," before stepping away.

In a flash, Kagome began to swipe at Kiba. He was barely able to avoid her blows, which left no opening for him to push her away. He was left to defend against her. At one point, she was able to scratch his face, sending a small electric shock through him. He stumbled then and was left wide open. He could see her get ready to lunge but she stopped, her ears swerving in another direction followed by her face.

Kiba lifted his head to see why Kagome had stopped. Standing in the doorway was Tsume, Hige and Blue. They looked worn out and they were huffing.

Tsume was the first to say something. "Kagome?"

Said person only stared. You couldn't read anything on her face. She was blank. Everything about her now seemed blank.

Then from the back of the room Darcia called her name. She answered his call by turning in his direction.

"We're leaving," he simply stated as the window behind him shattered. A loud shrill filled the wolves ears and they were forced to cover their ears.

"Its that damn noble ship!" yelled Hige.

"Dammit! Where is Kagome?" barked Tsume as he searched for her. He spotted her retreating form in the doorway of an airship beside Darcia who had Cheza in his arms just beyond the broken window. She was staring right at him. "What are you doing!" yelled Tsume. Why wasn't she trying to get away from that guy?

The door to the airship closed and Tsume couldn't see Kagome anymore. "Kagome!"

The airship then turned, the nose pointed right at the castle. Two beams of light struck the building suddenly before it backed away and flew north of where they were.

Seconds passed when the floor beneath them began to brake and shake uncontrollably beneath them.

"We have to get out of here!" yelled Blue as she barely avoided falling through a large opening in the floor.

"This way!" came Kiba's voice from the center of the room. The pack ran to keep up with him until they reached the broken window.

"Are you serious?" said Hige, mouth hanging open as he looked down. The ground seemed to be miles and miles away from him. Were they really going to jump this?

"Just use the closest ramps or even the castle itself to help you get down," declared Kiba who then jumped onto the nearest ramp. The pack followed him closely as the building began to collapse around them.

They followed one another, jumping on falling pieces to ramps and repeating the cycle over and over again until they were close enough to the ground to just jump from where ever they were to the bottom.

Everyone with the exception of Hige landed easily. The collard wolf landed hard on the ground and Blue was right at his side checking to see if he was okay.

Even though Hige said he was fine, Blue didn't miss the slight limp he had but didn't say anything more.

Once the group was gathered together again, they looked in the direction to where the airship had traveled in.

Not far from where they were they could see a large cloud of black smoke coming from the side of a snow-covered mountain.

"It looks like they weren't able to get too far away. It shouldn't take long to get there." Said Kiba. Turning around the castle continued to fall to the ground unmercifully and Kiba decided it was time to leave.

Looking at the others they all nodded their heads before heading in the direction of the large black cloud.

00000

Sorry it was a bit rushed at the end but what can you do. I've been writing this chapter for hours so please enjoy. Sorry for not updating sooner. I was too tired. School starts up in a few weeks so hopefully I'll have the next chapter and then the last chapter out before then.

Anyway Please enjoy!


	23. Goodbye

"The White Flower.

After winning the favor of the lord of the night.

Will share her sent.

Preordained and eternal in Countenance.

Her form is of a lily white supple Maiden.

She distills and condenses all of time.

Until it becomes a precious frozen mass."

A Wolf's Cry

**Warning Graphic Violence and Death.**

Chapter Twenty-Three- Goodbye

The weather changed rapidly as they got closer to the mountain. It went from a warm climate to below zero in a matter of moments. The worst of it didn't come until the pack was at the bottom of the mountain looking up. The wind whipped around the falling snow almost dangerously. When some would hit them in the face, it would actually hurt.

They could not see far up the mountain because of the snow, only a few feet in front of them. This had happened when they were heading to Darcia's keep so this condition wasn't hard to get used to again.

Kiba's eyes narrowed to see up the mountain, his fur blowing around rapidly in the wind. "This is it. No turning back now."

His words had an underlying meaning. Get through this to Paradise, or die trying. The pack understood this fully and accepted it.

The group moved together up the mountain.

This would be their last and final adventure.

* * *

The feeling of numbness came over the group the farther they went up the mountain. Although their fur coats did keep them warm, the wind didn't help at all.

Blue, who had been walking next to Hige, noticed something strange about the collared wolf out of the corner of her eye. "Hige?"

He nodded towards her. "Yea?"

"You're limping a little. Are you all right?" concern was filled in her voice.

Both Kiba and Tsume halted their pursuit to look at Hige.

Hige stopped and looked at the others warily before putting on a brave face. "I am?" he asked, with a little too much surprise than needed. "I don't think anything's wrong with me since I don't feel any pain. Maybe I'm just doing it subconsciously?"

Deciding not to press the issue, the group started up the mountain again, although, there was a little bit of tension.

In all honesty, Hige was hurting beyond belief. The fall back at the castle had hurt his leg badly. He didn't want the others to worry though so he kept it to himself. He didn't want to slow down the others from getting to Kagome and Cheza or from getting to Paradise so he bit his tongue.

Pretending as if the last conversation he and Blue had never existed, Hige asked, "How long do you think it will take to get to…"

He let his voice die down when he realized what he was staring at beneath him.

Footprints. Two sets of wolf footprints to be exact.

"Kiba. Look!" said Hige.

"What is it Hige?" asked Kiba, slowly making his way over.

"Footprints."

Kiba's widened eyes followed the footprints until they parted. There was one big thing that he noticed. Instead of one pair being wolf footprints and the other a humans', they were both wolf footprints.

"You noticed it too?" came Tsume's voice from beside Kiba. The first thing that jumped out at him was the fact that there were no human footprints, just animal.

"I don't get it," stated Hige in a huff, "Why aren't there any human footprints? Where are Darcia's footprints?"

"Good question." Dropping her head to the snowy ground, Blue tried to capture any clue with her sense of smell but was unsuccessful. "I can't tell who these tracks belong to."

"We should split up and search," said Kiba. He never once stopped gazing at the tracks in the snow. What was Darcia up to?

The man basically radiated with evil so there must be some surprise in store for them. That was the only thing that worried Kiba.

"Blue and I will take the footprints that go off to the left, you take the ones on the right," announced Hige. Deep down, he hoped he had chosen the safer ones, although neither of them was as safe as the other. For a moment Hige felt fear.

He feared the possibility of not being able to make it to Paradise. He feared of what was to come. More importantly, he feared of seeing someone he loved like family get killed. He would try to mentally prepare himself for any of these possibilities but he was sure he wouldn't be able to.

Tsume, who Hige heard call him "Porky", brought him out of his thoughts.

"What?" answered Hige.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right Porky?" asked Tsume. Tsume knew something was wrong with Hige even before Blue pointed it out. Hopefully he would be able to make it.

"We'll be fine! Let's just get this over already, I'm tired of waiting around!" growled Hige before turning to follow the tracks.

"Hige!" called Kiba. He didn't continue until the collared wolf stopped. "If anything should happen, howl and we'll find you. If you don't find anything we'll meet back here."

Hige nodded his head in understanding. Then he once again started to follow the footprints.

Both Tsume and Kiba watched Blue and Hige's forms disappear. "Do you actually think they'll be all right?" asked Tsume.

Kiba glanced at Tsume. "I can't really be sure. The only thing that's letting me believe that they will be fine is the fact that they are wolves." He looked into the direction in which the other two members had disappeared in before turning to follow the other set of footprints.

Tsume's gaze followed Kiba's retreating form, letting his words sink in. The white wolf was right. They really had nothing else to believe in. The fact that Hige was hurt didn't help things either.

The only thing Tsume could do now was hope they weren't going to get themselves into a huge mess before he followed after Kiba.

* * *

The atmosphere around both Blue and Hige became full of suspense. Although they were walking quite comfortably, they were alert at all times; any movement caught their eyes. As they were traveling up the mountain, the weather had actually lightened up a bit but the wind was still strong.

"Hige?"

"Yea?"

Blue's gaze dropped when Hige turned to look at her. "When we get to Paradise…will you stay with me?"

When she looked up at Hige, his breath caught in his throat. Her eyes were shinning and she seemed a little embarrassed. He smiled down at her.

"Of course Blue. I wouldn't leave you for anything."

She smiled up at him. She had grown rather attached to him since she had been asked to join the pack. He was her comfort from the evil glares from the other members and he stood by her. She was glad to hear that even when the got to Paradise he would continue to stay with her.

Their gazes returned to the snowy ground only to be met with just snow, no footprints. They quickly stopped and looked around. They moved so that they were standing back to back.

"Why aren't there any more footprints? They couldn't have just disappeared!" exclaimed Blue hurriedly.

A thick chuck of snow fell beside Hige head and he looked up.

There, standing only a few feet above them on a ledge was Kagome. She growled at them menacingly, teeth bore, fur standing straight up.

She jumped from the ledge and walked towards them slowly, saliva dripped from her mouth.

"Kagome?" asked Hige. She looked the same now as she did when they were at the castle. "Kagome we've come to bring you back."

His only response from her was a bark followed by a deeper growling as she kept advancing on them.

"Blue?"

"What?"

"I think you should get out of here," stated Hige. With every step Kagome took towards them he took two steps back. "Kagome doesn't look so good…"

Blue came to stand beside him. "I'm not going to leave you Hige," she said sternly.

When Blue spoke, Kagome's eyes immediately went to her form. It was as if she had just noticed Blue's presence. Kagome's growing instantly became louder and more threatening than before.

She was obviously not pleased.

"We're going to have to fight her. It doesn't look like she'll come easily. We'll have to try and wear her out" came Hige's voice from beside Blue.

"Okay."

Their eyes never left Kagome's form as she crouched low to the ground. The familiar sense of fear sprouted in them.

Before they knew it, Kagome jumped into the air, poised to attack Blue.

They were easily able to avoid it.

When Kagome's body connected with the snowy ground, a large think coat of snow erupted all around her, shielding them from sight.

Both Hige and Blue's eyes were whipping around widely to try and find her.

And then Hige saw her, red eyes blazing. She was in the air once again, aiming to grab Blue's back.

"Get out of the way Blue!" screamed Hige and he shoved her aside and out of the way of Kagome's attack.

The consequences of his action cost him dearly.

Kagome's teeth sank deeply into his back, tearing into his flesh unmercifully. Blood sprayed from Hige's body, staining the pure white snow red, as Kagome brought them into a summersault.

Blue watched this scene play out in front of her horrified. It all seemed to go in slow motion. First she was standing in one spot, the next she was pushed roughly to fall slightly in the snow. Now she was watching Kagome tear into Hige.

All she could do was scream his name. "Hige!"

She watched, horrified, as they tumbled until Kagome released herself from him. Once their contact was broken, he was sent flying into the snowy ground with a loud thud.

Blue's eyes were glued to him but he didn't move an inch. He lay on the snow-covered ground bloodied and steaming.

She was now left with Kagome to deal with by herself.

The familiar sense of fear engulfed her once Kagome turned towards her. She had been in a fight with this wolf before and even then it wasn't easy. Kagome hadn't looked like this at the time so Blue didn't know what to expect. Looking at Kagome as she was right now didn't make Blue feel at all confident.

Kagome's face was expressionless although Blue could tell when looking into her red eyes that Kagome wasn't going to let her go without a fight. There was no doubt in Blue's mind that Kagome hadn't forgotten what she did to her and her family.

But Blue wanted Kagome to forgive her. She wanted to repent. If she could help Kagome, could she forgive her?

Puffs of smoke appeared from her panting form; saliva mixed with blood dripped from her mouth.

Hige's blood.

If Kagome could do that to Hige with no second thoughts then there was no telling what she could do to Blue.

She couldn't help Hige right now, if she did, she could be killed. For now, Blue would try to slow Kagome down without killing her. It didn't look like Kagome would come with them if she were in perfect shape so Blue knew there was going to be a bit of blood on both sides.

Blue glimpsed at Hige's body. It wasn't moving. In the pit of her stomach she sensed something wasn't right.

_I'll be there soon Hige, just hold on!_ she thought to herself before her eyes returned to Kagome.

They both stood unmoving sizing each other up and waiting for the other to make the first move.

Blue tried to stay calm, every once in a while she would shake, not just from the weather but from the sound and intensity of Kagome's growl.

And then Kagome started to move slowly. Blue's eyes never left Kagome's hungry ones as they both started to circle one another.

Kagome would lash out towards her, trying to scare her when she faked an attack. When Blue was starting to get used to her behavior and became more confident, Kagome made her think twice.

The crazed wolf ran at her through the snow with ease and tried to grab Blue's neck but she was able to avoid it, although she did come away with it with a scratch on her shoulder. A small electric shock went through her body and Blue winced. 'What is this?'

Blue swiftly recovered and they once again stood to watch each other before Kagome went after Blue again.

This time Kagome was able to grab Blue's hind leg painfully with her teeth and began to viciously bite.

In a natural reaction, Blue whipped her head around and was able to latch onto the scruff of Kagome's neck. They bit down viciously on each other as they growled threats at one another until Blue was able to bite deep enough to make Kagome let go. Shocks shook her body.

Just as fast as they had leg go of one another, Kagome was on Blue once again. She jumped into the air and landed on Blue's back. They tumbled together biting and scratching once another.

Their fight became frenzy and uncontrollable. Kagome fought Blue with all of her might and it didn't surprise Blue one bit. She had become stronger and faster, but Blue knew she could keep up with her. This fight would end when the weaker of the two fell.

Kagome pinned Blue down on her back and tried to get at her neck but Blue was able to stop it with a scratch to Kagome's face, causing her to jump off and away from Blue to shake her head.

Blue tried to stand but fell when she felt the immense pain from the wound on her leg. It was steaming and bleeding. She couldn't let this get to her though, she had to fight though the pain to try and help Kagome.

She tried to get to her feet and this time she was successful. Once Blue was steady she looked up to see Kagome shaking her head violently before she stopped to meet Blue's gaze.

Once their eyes met, Blue made the first move and ran at Kagome with all the force she could muster. Kagome turned to get out of the way but Blue turned just as fast and was able to get a hold of her tail. She latched on and before Kagome was able to turn around and get her, Blue spun her and tossed her away to hit the ground painfully and roll for a few feet.

All was silent other than Blue's fierce panting. The pain in her leg intensified and for a moment Blue didn't know how long she would be able to take this. She turned to look at the wound and found it bleeding profusely, the snow around her stained red. The scratch on her shoulder hurt somewhat but wasn't as near as painful as her leg injury.

Her eyes returned to Kagome's body, which wasn't moving with the exception of her rapid breathing.

Had she done it? Was it over now?

Blues eyes traveled to Hige once again. Tears sprang to her eyes. She briefly wondered if he was in a great deal of pain, the wound on his back was deep and looked like he lost a lot of blood already.

…This should have been her.

Anger filled Blue. "Why?"

All Blue could do was stare at him.

"Why Hige?" yelled Blue. "Why did you have get in the way?" her voice was desperate.

There was no answer.

Blue's eyes began to fill with tears as she turned to watch Kagome begin to struggle to her feet.

Determined, Blue spoke. "I know what I did to you was horrible and I will probably never be forgiven for the rest of my life…but I want to repent. I _want _to be forgiven, that's why I'm here. Hige and the pack want you back Kagome. They all want to see you again and if I can help you, I will…please Kagome, come back."

Once Kagome was at her feet, she shook the snow from her body. Her eyes bore into Blue.

Kagome began to growl venomously at her, the fur on the back of her neck stood straight up. Her growl became a snarl as she bore her fangs.

"Why won't you listen?" pleaded Blue, "What's wrong with you! Don't you care about them?"

Blue let the tears she had been holding back fall. She knew then, looking into Kagome's eyes that she could never help save her. The deep hate Kagome harbored for her would never waver in the state she was in now. This hate would never end.

She took one last glance at Hige. This was it and she knew it. Hige hadn't move once since his body hit the ground and she was loosing blood by the second. Her journey would end here.

It had been fun meeting this pack and getting to know Hige in a weird way. She knew she wasn't accepted in the beginning but she knew that after time, she was accepted just a little bit. She only wished they had met on better terms. Blue knew they could never fully trust or accept her because of what she had done to Kagome and she had come to terms with that early on when she joined them. She never really had expected them to anyway.

Blue stared Kagome dead in the eye as the red-eyed wolf made her way towards Blue. With her death, Blue knew that some of the pain Kagome was experiencing would be taken away. It was what Kagome had wanted and it didn't offend Blue. If her death could help Kagome in any way, Blue would gladly die.

In a way, it was good for both of them. Blue had nothing left for her to lose and Kagome wanted to avenge her family. This was how it had to be.

Closing her eyes, Blue waited for her death to come. In that time, she remembered her first meeting with Hige and all that he had done to help her with. She had known somewhere deep down that she would never make it to Paradise but the thought of it was pleasant. Especially when Hige said he would stay with her even after they reached Paradise. That had made her happy.

Now she only hoped that Hige was waiting for her on the other side where they could be together.

_I'm coming Hige._

Her thoughts ceased when Kagome's teeth sank into her jugular, killing Blue instantly.

* * *

When Tsume and Kiba heard a scream farther up the mountain from where they were, they began to run as fast as they could. It had sounded like Cheza and they wanted to get to her as soon as possible.

As soon as they got to where the scream had come from, they were immediately attacked.

"What the hell was that?" asked Tsume who barely missed getting hit by the black blur.

Kiba watched their enemy turn towards them. "It's him. Darcia."

"Since when did a human with no trace of a wolf's scent turn into a wolf!" barked Tsume.

The evil laugh that Darcia let loose had both Kiba and Tsume's eyes glued to him. Their eyes narrowed at the sight of Darcia. One of his eyes was blue, that of a human's, while the other was a golden wolf's eye.

Their attention to his eye didn't go unnoticed by Darcia. "Yes. So you've noticed my curse have you? And you've noticed I'm not human anymore, right?" he paused to laugh again before continuing, "This is what I've become. Because of this disgusting eye, I've become a wolf."

Tsume sneered. "We don't give a shit about you and your eye. We're just here for Kagome and Cheza."

Darcia snarled back at him. "They both belong to me."

Kiba growled, baring his teeth. "If you wont give them back, then we'll just have you kill you." The white wolf flexed his nails in the snow.

"A little feisty are we? I wont give them up so easily. They're going to open my Paradise whether you like it or not," stated Darcia before he rushed at them.

He was surprisingly very fast on his feet in the snow but both Tsume and Kiba could keep up with him easily.

They surrounded Darcia and the fighting started. Tsume and Kiba lashed out at Darcia, biting and scratching. They were able to land a few wounds on him, nothing deep or serious but it wasn't good enough.

Darcia wasn't easy; because of his speed he was quickly able to whip his head back and fourth to bite at the gray and white wolf before he was able to use his paw to push Kiba down the snowy mountain. Once the white wolf was out of the way, Darcia ran up the mountain.

Without thinking, Tsume followed Darcia up the mountain as fast as he could. He was determined to kill this monster for the group, for himself, but most importantly for Kagome.

With a burst of energy, Tsume jumped and latched himself around Darcia's neck.

* * *

By the time Kiba stopped rolling and was up on his feet again, he wasn't able to see Tsume or Darcia. The feeling of concern for his pack mate sprouted in his stomach. He knew something bad was going to happen to Tsume. Darcia was a large wolf, bigger than both him and Tsume and Kiba knew it wouldn't take long for Darcia to over take the gray wolf.

Not wasting anymore time, he followed Tsume's scent up the mountain.

* * *

The moment Tsume's teeth tore into Darcia's, the black wolf immediately flipped onto his back, crushing Tsume beneath him until he let go.

The gray wolf jumped away from Darcia, small amounts of blood dripped from his mouth. Tsume panted a bit, but never held back the smile that played on his lips. "You're not so tough after all," stated Tsume while he watched Darcia flip over to his feet to stand.

Darcia laughed at him. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

Tsume raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

He wasn't able to say another word. Somehow, Darcia was able to disappear in the blink of an eye only to reappear behind Tsume. Without a second though, Darcia took a large part of Tsume's back into his mouth and bit down.

Pain swallowed up Tsume's whole being and he saw red. This pressure he was feeling was incredible, nothing like he'd ever felt before. He screamed out in agony as his eyes bulged.

The pain was still there even after Darcia threw him against the side of the mountain and into a rock. He could feel every ounce of blood seep from his body and into the snow. His eyes closed tightly as he grounded his teeth together.

_I cant give up…I cant._

Tsume's leg twitched to move as he tried to will himself to stand but it wouldn't budge.

I wasn't able to keep my promise…I wasn't able to save her…

He remembered the first time they had met. The pack had saved her beaten and bruised body from being killed out in the storm. It seemed like everyone but he was excited to meet her and get to know her.

He had actually suggested that they not save her, but instead, leave her to die in the snow.

_So this is how it feels like._

To think that this could have been Kagome all those months actually made Tsume mad. He cursed himself for thinking that way and wished he hadn't have said anything. But because he didn't know her, he did. He had made it evident that he had not wanted her there and always said things to hurt her feelings.

As he got to know her over time, his feelings changed. He began to like her although he'd never show it. Eventually he grew to love her.

His love for her was the only reason why he was here.

But…it didn't look like he'd ever get to see her again. He'd broken the promise he had made to himself.

_I wanted to see you again…_

Feeling a presence above him, he opened his eyes to see Darcia standing over him.

"You **disgusting **creature. You actually thought you could save them by killing _me_? You're a fool. You and everyone else will die here." His eyes widened at the end of his statement and his mouth opened to release a cruel laugh.

The reaction Tsume received was nothing short of madness. Just looking at this…thing made Tsume angry. "You monster."

Darcia's laugh became louder. "You're right, I _am_ a monster! Now I'm going to kill you!"

Even though Tsume could not move, he growled as loud and as threatening as he could while never taking his eyes off of Darcia's.

Darcia lowered his head and revealed his fangs. "Even half dead you wolves never give up. You're all just a nuisance."

He moved to make a step closer to Tsume but was suddenly thrown back by something.

Tsume's eyes darted around until they landed on a white wolf. Kiba.

A small sense of happiness pushed away the pain Tsume was feeling for a few moments. Just knowing that Kiba had come for him made him happy for once. If this had happened a few months ago, Tsume knew he would have been angry, but looking at Kiba who just stood a few feet away made Tsume feel fortunate. Even though the gray wolf knew of the relationship between the white wolf and Kagome it didn't matter now.

Tsume closed his eyes again but quickly opened them when he heard Kiba shout his name. Kiba was panting loudly, obviously out of breath.

"Tsume…"

The gray wolf looked at him as he always did, angrily. "I'm fine, just go. He's getting away."

Kiba's eyes landed on the wound on Tsume's back. "But Tsume-"

"Just go damnit! I'll be fine! Go get Cheza and Kagome!" barked Tsume furiously.

Amber eyes met amber eyes before one pair reluctantly turned away.

As Kiba's form disappeared, Tsume let out a long howl before it died out.

Tsume smiled. Now, he could die peacefully alone. This was the way he wanted it to be.

Laying his head down in a comfortable position, Tsume closed his eyes once again. _I'm going to get that stupid runt when I get there, _thought Tsume before drifting off into an endless slumber.

00000

What…happened?

"…Blue?" whispered Hige into the wind.

Somehow, he was able to find the strength to make it to his feet, although barely.

His vision was very blurry as he tried to find Blue. When he did spot the dark lump he smiled. "Blue…"

Not saying more he limped his way over to Blue's body. Drops of blood fell from his body unbeknownst to him with each step he took. He nudged her head with his when he got to her body. Realization quickly set in when he felt how cold she was. Tears fell from his eyes as he lay down beside her and rested his head on her neck. "I'll…keep you warm…Blue."

He took in her fading scent desperately while never once taking his eyes off of Blue before his heart took its last beat.

* * *

Kiba didn't pay any attention to where he was going; his mind was in a different place. He had barely made it in time before Darcia would have finished Tsume off but even then it did not look like Tsume would make it.

Kiba would never forget the image of Tsume's broken and bleeding body. Just remembering it both angered and saddened Kiba. He knew just as well as Tsume himself that he would not make it. Even though Tsume deserved to make it to Paradise, he never would. All because of one person.

Darcia.

The same man that had taken everyone he cherished away had now taken Tsume.

Kiba would make sure that bastardwould never make it to Paradise. He would fight Darcia to the death if he had to.

Tsume had sacrificed himself so he could get this far. He _had _to finish it. Everything would end here.

His pace slowed as he reached the top of the mountain.

Only to be met face to face with Kagome.

She looked the same as she did back at Darcia's castle where she had attacked him. She had the same eyes and expression. The fact she was bleeding both on her neck and tail had caught his attention but more importantly, she didn't seem to be fazed at all.

Letting his eyes travel a little bit he saw Darcia standing beside Cheza, who had fallen to the ground, no more than a few feet behind Kagome.

The Lunar Flower had tears streaming down her face. He knew she was experiencing an extreme amount of pain and it ached to see her like that.

A low chuckle caught Kiba's attention and his eyes were immediately drawn to Darcia who was smiling like a mad wolf. "Here so soon? I didn't think you'd want to rush your death so much but I guess it's your own choice. I'm happy to tell you that you're the only one left. The only one remaining who could _possibly _stop me."

Darcia's tone seemed to be amused when he spoke which angered Kiba greatly. He began to growl nastily.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Darcia laughed. "Didn't you know? Kagome's taken care of both the collard and black wolf. Since I've killed the gray one, the only one left is you," he paused to shake the snow from his body. "But that will not last long. Kagome seems to be ready for another fight so I'll leave her to dispose of you."

Not bothering to say more, Darica grabbed Cheza by her collar and jumped down into the mountain.

"Cheza!" screamed Kiba as he tried to go to her but was stopped by Kagome.

He watched helplessly as Darcia disappeared into the mountain with Cheza in his mouth before returning his gaze to Kagome. Once their eyes connected she growled; the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up.

Kiba wasn't able to say a word as she quickly lunged for his neck. He was only able to avoid it by rising to his hind legs. He lots his footing and fell backwards but quickly recovered to roll away from her to dodge another attack. Kiba heard her jaws snap together loudly and he knew that could have been his neck.

The white wolf was successfully avoiding Kagome's attacks for a while until he lots his footing when trying to make a sharp turn and fell.

She pounced on top of him and began to bite his body unmercifully. He let out a sharp yelp when he felt the shocks of pain and before he knew it, he roughly pushed her off of him with his paws, unknowingly scratching her deeply in the process.

They broke apart to look at each other.

Kagome was panting just as hard as he was and the wound on her chest dripped with blood. He too was bleeding on his neck from the puncture wounds he had received.

Kiba cringed. He knew he was the cause of that wound on her body and his heart sank. He didn't want it to be like this. None of this was supposed to happen.

He had known from the first time he had seen Kagome in Darcia's castle that something was wrong. Her whole aura had changed and she appeared to be a totally different person.

Her scent had been the only thing that told Kiba it was actually Kagome. Her scent was her own and he had never encountered a smell such as hers.

Kiba's gaze bore into her expressionless eyes. Those same eyes used to hold warmth in them but now they were as cold as stone.

Not being able to control himself, Kiba whispered her name. "Kagome."

Kiba watched Kagome's fur ruffle with the gust of wind that passed over them, waiting for her to say something…_anything_.

With each passing moment he could feel her taking his energy but he waited.

She gave no reply.

He tried again, this time louder. "Kagome!"

She only blinked at him, still remaining in the same spot where she had been standing since they stopped fighting.

It seemed too late now as he stared at her helplessly. Even though she was only a few feet away from him, she seemed to be in a different world.

A picture of her smiling face flashed in his mind. His eyes softened. "I'm sorry." He turned his head to the side.

"You were always there for me when I needed you...but when you needed me the most, I wasn't there. And now look at us. We're fighting because of me. Because I wasn't able to save you."

A sad grin appeared on his face. "A part of me thinks that nothing will be the same and you'll never come back to me."

Memories of when he first met her and all of their experiences together flashed through his mind.

The time where he had dressed her wounds, when he had watched her and Toboe sleeping together peacefully, and when he had saved her from drowning in the lake.

He remembered the time when he saw Kagome and Hojo together. The jealousy he had felt then was intense at that time. He had actually thought she might go with Hojo at one point but she ended up staying with him.

That was how it had been and would continue to be. He lifted his eyes to meet hers. Strength that he had thought was lost came back to him.

"But I wont give up Kagome! We'll go to Paradise together!"

For a split second something flashed in her eyes but Kiba didn't have any time to think about it because Kagome attacked him yet again.

He watched her attempts to somehow grab a hold of him, but with Kiba's new determination he was able to dodge them all.

She seemed to want to get rid of him as fast as possible but her body just wouldn't keep up with her. It was slowing down from the blood loss and Kiba was starting to worry if she would kill herself or if she would end up passing out at any moment from blood loss.

After a few minutes that seemed to last forever, Kagome suddenly stopped. Her body was rattled with short breaths and she let her head fall. Her vision became blurred and the world seemed to be spinning around her.

Kiba watched as she stumbled over herself. She was a mess. He looked around himself and noticed her blood was spread everywhere. The snow around both of them was covered to the point where you almost couldn't see any white. He looked back up at her and noticed the red liquid dripping from her mouth.

"Kagome…" concern was in his voice. He tried to go to her but he hesitated when she snapped deliriously in his direction. His heart sank.

"Kagome, let me help you," stated Kiba as he continued to walk to her.

When he was close enough to touch her, she lashed out and bit him on his neck again, sending a small shock through his system.

He caught himself after he stumbled and then began to pursue her again. "Come on Kagome, let me help you."

She started to move backwards, growling and snapping in his direction to keep him away. He looked passed her and saw they were getting close to the edge of the mountain that lead to Darcia and Cheza.

"Don't run away from me Kagome!"

Her ears swiveled in his direction. She didn't stop moving back until her leg gave out with a yelp.

His body lurched to go to her but for some reason he couldn't move. The ground beneath them began to tremble and Kiba's eyes began to dart around them.

"What's going on?"

There was a loud crack and golden eyes met pink instead of red.

"Kiba?"

No sooner had she said his name did their bodies' jerk as the land underneath them began to give way.

The sound of her voice captured Kiba's full attention. Her whole aura changed and the coldness in her eyes disappeared.

Her body abruptly jerked down once again but this time it didn't stop. He watched as she tried to get up but couldn't. "Kagome!" yelled Kiba frantically.

The white wolf was only able to take one step towards Kagome before the snow beneath her gave out instantaneously. She was instantly sent plummeting to the ground, a massive amount of snow following after her.

The vibrations under Kiba's feet did not stop and Kiba soon found the snow around him disappearing. He tried to get away but the loss of land was too great and he too was sent plunging to the center of the mountain where Darcia lay in waiting.

* * *

Soft crying awoke Kiba from his unconsciousness. His eyes were met with darkness. For a moment Kiba thought he was blind only to remember he was submerged in snow when he tried to move his body but it wouldn't budge. Instead, it kept him frozen in place.

"Kagome?" whispered Kiba. He struggled to move any part of his body, desperately trying to free himself. The feeling of restraint angered Kiba and his movements to be free became frenzied.

After a few tries, he was able to get onto his back and scratch at the snow above him, every once in a while stopping to take a break before continuing once again. When he had made enough room to get his legs beneath him, he started to push upwards, using his back as a plow. The snow didn't seem to want to budge the first few attempts but Kiba wouldn't give up.

He crouched before slamming his back against the snow above him. It hurt the first few times, but Kiba soon became numb to the pain and continued.

When he was on his tenth try, the snow began to loosen.

_Don't give up._ He kept telling himself. _Cheza and Kagome need you!_

With one final thrust upwards, the snow on top of Kiba was propelled upwards, revealing Kiba to the cold air. He fell forward in exhaustion and let his body calm down from his rapid breathing.

The scent of Lunar Flowers slowly wrapped around him, comforting him. Looking around, he saw Cheza lying on her side not to far from where he was.

Darcia was nowhere to be seen.

Letting his eyes rest on the Flower Maiden, Kiba noticed that she appeared to be shriveling away. Her limbs became longer and more fragile looking almost that of a skeleton. Green veins ran along her whole body, from the tips of her fingers to the middle of her cheeks. Those cheeks were stained with tears that fell from her eyes. All the pain she was experiencing was finally taking its toll.

Kiba winced as he began to stand. "Cheza." He breathed the Flower Maidens name as he painstakingly started to limp to her.

She reached her thin long arm out to him and when he was just about to reach it, Darica appeared behind Cheza and brutally sank his teeth into her waist before throwing her aside.

"Cheza!" yelled Kiba as he watched her tossed like a rag doll.

Darcia laughed. "Is she really all that important to you?"

Kiba whipped his head in the monsters direction. A dark green liquid seeped from Darcia's mouth. Kiba narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong with Cheza?"

Darcia licked his lips. "Isn't it obvious? She's wilting. She's just like any other flower. They never last forever and she will die soon. If I don't kill you, I might not be able to open Paradise. I'm surprised Kagome wasn't able to get rid of you, but it looks like she did some damage."

"Where is Kagome?" bit out Kiba. He couldn't find her scent anywhere.

Darcia lazily started to move. "Does it matter? We both know she's not dead. If she were, Cheza would be dead also. Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Darcia's eyes widened abnormally and he lunged for Kiba. They grabbed each other on the sides of their necks and bit down ferociously before Darcia Quickly broke away and rammed his head against Kiba's head.

The white wolf stumbled back a bit and he could feel the warm liquid trickle down his forehead. He was suddenly pulled backwards by his hind leg and the fighting started again.

Darcia was on top of him, biting and scratching while Kiba was face down beneath him.

Kiba smashed his head into Darcia's jaw and pushed him off. Turning his head, Kiba fiercely grabbed Darcia's neck in his jaw, digging his teeth in.

Darcia managed to make it to his feet and quickly started to whip his head around, smashing Kiba's body against the ground until he let go. Then he grabbed the white wolf painfully around his torso with his teeth and threw Kiba much like how he had thrown Cheza.

Kiba yelped loudly and whimpered when his body connected with the ground. He felt a small crack and didn't move.

Laughing filled his ears and Darcia was standing above him, mouth open and eyes large. "This is it. With you gone I can finally open Paradise! In only moments, I will be reunited with you my love! My Hamona!" He snarled down at Kiba who was growling up at him. "Your attempts were futile. Face it, I've won. Your life is mine!"

Darcia opened his mouth wide and moved in for the kill. Just as he was going to close his mouth around Kiba's neck, Darcia's laughing stopped. His body lurched. Raising his head, Darcia's body swiftly lurched once again but more violently.

"What!" yelled Darcia.

Kiba watched as Darcia gagged, green liquid mixed with blood rushed from his mouth with a heave. Darcia seemed to gurgle until his body heaved again, this time a black sphere came out.

Everything became silent as both wolves looked at the sphere. Then out of nowhere, Darcia started to scream. He thrashed his head as his body began to vaporize until nothing was left.

Kiba looked on at the spot where Darcia had been unbelievingly. He was gone. He was finally gone.

Barely able to pick his head up, Kiba searched for Cheza but couldn't find her anywhere. He called out her name: "Cheza!"

His answer was silence.

Pushing himself to move, he gradually rose to his feet. Once he found his balance he took a deep breath. Movement out of the corner of his eye made Kiba turn to his right just in time to see the sphere that Darcia had regurgitated roll away from him.

He focused his eyes to look in the direction it was headed and all Kiba could make out was a lump on the ground a couple of feet away. A sense of lightness came over Kiba when he kept staring. Anxiousness burst in Kiba, in the pit of his stomach he knew whom the sphere was headed to and instinctively he limped behind it.

Kiba reverted to his human form as he forced himself to keep going. With each step he took, sharp pains shot through his body. His mind was blank though and he couldn't think of anything other than how to stay on his feet and not fall. He staggered for a moment.

When Kiba lifted his head, he was amazed at what he saw.

The sphere had led him straight to Kagome's human body. Although her body looked the same, it had little flowers protruding from it.

Just looking at her caused Kiba to swell with happiness.

She opened her eyes. Amber met blue for the first time in a while.

"Kiba?" her voice was weak and soft. Tears welled in her eyes as her whole body shook from pain.

He sank to his knees and rested his hand on top of her head. She was finally reunited with him after all this time. "Are you all right?"

She shook her head as she squeezed her eyes shut; the tears she had been keeping back began to fall. She coughed up blood violently. "I'm…I'm going to die here…" her voice was shaking with fear and she winced. "Where are the others? Where's Toboe?" her entire body began to shake at this point.

Kiba's breath caught in his throat before he grinned sadly. "They're all in Paradise."

He couldn't have possibly told her, he would never forgive himself.

Kiba's eyes started to swell when he saw her smile up at him. "I'm sorry Kiba… I wasn't able to protect Cheza…I'm sorry for leaving all of you…I'm sorry …for everything." She gulped before she started to breath heavily. Her body was beginning to tense, her joints locking.

The white wolf averted his gaze to the ground beside them. It was covered with their blood, which made Kiba shiver.

"Kiba?"

He turned his attention to Kagome immediately. "Yea?"

"What is that?"

He turned to his left to see the black sphere and picked it up to hand it to her.

The moment she touched it, it turned pink and her eyes widened. _It can't be…_

Lost memories of the Sengoku Jidai came rushing back. Her memories of Inu Yasha, Miroku, Sango, and Shippou quickly moved through her mind. Thoughts of when and how she met all these people would forever remain with her.

She smiled to herself. _Everything will die with me. This is the way it should be. _

Her breathing began to slow and Kagome looked at Kiba tenderly. She raised her hand to rest on his cheek just as a tear slid from his eye. His heart was pounding in his chest when he covered her hand with his. He tried to keep her warmth with him but he felt it slipping away.

The smile on her face broadened, a trickle of blood slid down the side of her mouth. She slowly spoke to him. "Being able to love you…is one thing I am **not **sorry for Kiba…I love you, with every fiber of my being."

By the time Kagome said her last word her energy was depleted and soon, she was not able to stay with him. She was only able to give one last smile to Kiba before her eyes slid shut and her hand slackened against Kiba's face.

"Kagome! Don't go! Don't…leave me…please!" He crushed her cold body to him and let himself cry for the first time in what seemed to be forever.

He stayed like that for a while until he couldn't keep himself up anymore. He laid them down and wrapped himself around her when the wind picked up, blowing the snow around them. His vision became blurred from blood loss; the only thing that was clear to him now was her face. He clung to her completely, never wanting to let go. "We'll meet again…in Paradise Kagome…I promise I'll find you again…"

He breathed deeply, taking in her scent, the scent that he craved for, needed.

Then, as he watched her peaceful face, he let his eyes slowly slide shut.

* * *

When all was silent and calm, the pink sphere as well as the Wolf Maiden glowed a soft pink before both sank into the Earth, giving birth to a new era.


	24. Epilogue

"We have acquired the means

To exceed our natural span of life,

Never suspecting that the world itself

Was finalized in its existence"

A Wolf's Cry

**Chapter Twenty-Four- Epilogue**

"Hey…Kagome?"

Blue eyes quickly met chocolate.

"What?" asked the said girl curiously.

"What do you think?"

Kagome blinked. "…About what?" She had been gazing off into space while drinking a sprite from her favorite fast food place, WacDonalds.

She sighed when one of her friends raised their eyebrows. She had once again missed the conversation her three friends, Sango, Blue, and Ayame were having.

"About going to the festival tonight of course!" exclaimed Ayame excitedly.

Sango put down her drink. "It's been a while since we've all gone out together as a group. This would be the perfect opportunity."

Kagome stopped twirling the straw in her soda and smiled brightly. "That sounds like a great idea!" And it would be. High school was really sucking for her these few weeks with all the homework and projects as well as tests.

Her three friends smiled back at her before one of them, Blue, looked at her watch. "We should leave and get ready or we'll be late," she stood up from the table and waved. "We'll meet at your house Kagome. I'll see you later!"

After waving back to Blue, the remaining girls finished their food and said goodbye to Kagome. She was the last to leave since she didn't have to walk far to get to her house.

On her way home she let her thoughts get the better of her. She had heard everyone talking about the festival in school and it seemed as if _everyone _would be going.

Even the people she hoped to not see.

But she knew she couldn't tell her friends she could not go because of that one little thing. Besides, she would make sure she didn't run into any of the people she disliked. If in the small chance that she did, she would ignore them.

And they were right. It _had _been forever since they had gotten together. Each of her friends did have a boyfriend that they spent most of their time with. Sango had Miroku, Ayame had Kouga, and Blue had Hige.

Kagome stopped in mid step, a sudden thought catching her attention. Her eyes narrowed.

Was this another one of their plans? Kagome distinctly remembered the last time her friends had done this to her. They had set her up on a date with Hojo, which had, unsurprisingly, gone badly.

She had become very uncomfortable and in the end, dropped him like a bag of rocks with some sort of an excuse.

Kagome shook her head. _I swear if they do that I'm going to punch them all in the head._

With a huff, Kagome resumed a firm stride home…only tripping a few times before she recovered somewhat gracefully and continued on.

* * *

"I'm home!" yelled Kagome as she kicked her shoes off before waling into the kitchen to see her mom cooking.

"Welcome home Kagome! How was school?" asked her mother happily.

Kagome dropped her bad next to the dining room table. "It was the same as always, nothing new," she sat on the floor. "Hey mom?"

"Yes?" called her mother from the kitchen.

"Do you think it would be alright if I went to the festival tonight?"

Her mother looked up from her cooking and gave Kagome a warm smile. "I don't see any reason why not. Are you going with friends?"

Kagome nodded.

Her mother turned to look at the clock and said, "You better get ready soon or you'll be late. Do you know what you're going to wear?"

Kagome, who was just about to head up the steps, turned her head to look at her mom. "Yea, thanks mom!" she said before disappearing up the steps.

Her mother kept smiling even when Kagome was out of sight. She was happy her daughter would be hanging out with there friends again. It had been a while since she had heard her daughter ask to go out.

* * *

After going through, what Kagome thought, a thousand yukatas, she finally found her choice.

It was a nice white yukata that had pink flowers scattered on it with a matching pink obi.

_Finally_ she thought to herself exasperated.

"Kagome!"

Kagome's head shot to her door, "Yea mom?" she yelled.

"Your friends are here!"

"Ok!"

Grabbing a little matching purse, Kagome quickly ran through all the things she had in her head. Finding that she wasn't missing anything, she hastily ran down the stairs.

Souta's head popped out from his room. "Hey! Where are you going?"

Not missing a step nor bothering to turn around, Kagome answered him with only an "Out!"

Shaking his head he went back into his room to play video games.

By the time she was at the door to meet her friends, Kagome was out of breath and huffing. "Sorry…huff…for making…huff…you wait."

Her friends smiled down at there hunched over friend.

"We weren't waiting long so don't worry," said Blue as she pat Kagome's back. "Breathe."

Kagome laughed after she regained her posture. "Thanks." She stared at her friend and observed what they were wearing. Sango was wearing a plain pink yukata while Ayame wore a yellow with a pink and purple butterfly print. Blue wore a black yukata that had white flowers spread all over it. They all looked so pretty compared to her.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to face her mother.

"Have fun tonight," she said as she kissed her daughters cheek.

Kagome beamed at her. "I will, thanks mom!" Turning back to her friends, Kagome put on her sandals and headed out the door.

Ms. Higurashi watched until she couldn't see her daughter anymore then closed the door. She headed to the kitchen and tasted the food she had been cooking all-day and grinned. "Souta," she called. "Dinner's ready!"

* * *

It was already dark by the time they arrived at the festival and it was very crowded.

"So what do you girls want to do?" asked Sango, looking around.

Ayame jumped, "Lets eat!"

"Ok!" everyone agreed. With no more to say, Ayame led the way to a nice little food stand where they ate different meals but shared a few rice balls. The food was very good…

And Kagome couldn't stop eating.

She hadn't even noticed that her friends had left until they called her name.

"Kagome!" she looked up just as she was licking her fingers clean. "Come on Kagome, let's go!" shouted Sango who was waving.

Kagome nodded her head vigorously and quickly paid the man. Just as she turned, her shoulder connected with something hard and she spun on her sandal and lost her balance. A pair of hands grasped her arms tightly so she wouldn't fall.

Kagome immediately tensed and opened her eyes, which she had closed in reaction to losing her balance.

"Are you alright?" came a masculine voice.

Time slowed down. She wasn't able to say a thing. The boy who had caught her was maybe a few years older than her and very handsome. He had a very nice skin complexion that went well with his short dark hair and blue eyes…weird. She had thought it was only she and Blue that had blue eyes in all of Japan.

Kagome blinked a few times and regained her voice. "Sorry about that."

He released her but didn't move to walk away. Instead, they both stood there studying each other.

_I know that face,_ thought Kagome to herself. Then she remembered something. "Wait a minute. Were you-" she was cut off before she could say any more.

"Kagome!" "Kiba!"

They both turned in the direction that their group had called them from at the same time.

The man stayed silent while Kagome answered her friends almost hesitantly. _I guess they didn't. _"Coming!" She turned to the man who was in front of her and bowed. "I have to go now. I'm very sorry about bumping into you." She turned and left, not looking at him.

She continued to not look at him until she was sure she put a good few feet between them. When she did turn to look in his direction, she could only see his back. She found herself not able to look away.

_Where have I seen him before?_

She tried to remember but couldn't since her friends kept tapping her shoulder and asking her questions.

"What?" Kagome asked, a little irritated.

Her friends didn't seem to notice or care.

"Who was that?" asked Ayame loudly, eyes wide. "He was pretty handsome."

Kagome blushed. "I'm not sure but for some reason I think I've seen him before…"

Sango put her finger to her lips. "I've never seen him around school so I don't think its possible. Maybe he just moved here?"

The group tried to find him but he was already lost in the crowd.

"Anyway," said Blue suddenly. "Lets enjoy the rest of the night before we have to leave!"

Everyone but Kagome nodded. She still couldn't keep her eyes off the spot where she bumped into him.

"You all right Kagome?" Sango patted her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts with a sheepish grin.

She scratched her head.

"Yea," she answered.

Ayame turned and pointed in the direction she wanted to go. "Then lets go!" she announced before marching off. The rest of the girls followed her into the night to enjoy the festival.

* * *

_The End_

**Credits **

Writer: Dark Paine

Publisher: Dark Paine

**Special thanks to:**

All of the Reviewers

Evil Hamster of DOOM for giving me constructive criticism.

Everyone who has me on their author/story alert

Everyone who has me or my story on their fav list.

**Thank you all very much!**

_Next Story to be done_:

First Love

Kagome/Youko

AU Kagome is a poor peasant girl who barely makes ends meet...Her love life is just as bad, if not worse. But that all changes when a mysterious man 'saves' her...InuYasha/YuYu Hakusho crossover.

_Like Gilmore Girls and want to read some fanfiction?_

Then visit:

CripticWolf

**Until Next time, take care of yourselves, and each other.**


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